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The Purpose of Life - Jeffrey Lang - YouTube
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Comprehensive Translation and Summary of by Dr. Jeffrey Lang
Introduction and Context of the Lecture
Dr. Jeffrey Lang opens his lecture with a lighthearted remark about his affiliation with the University of Kansas, immediately establishing a warm connection with his audience before transitioning into the profound core of his address: what the Quran explicitly states regarding the true purpose of human existence. Lang emphasizes that this subject holds paramount importance, particularly for Muslims living in the West, where they constitute a religious minority. In an environment where outsiders frequently inquire about Islamic beliefs, understanding how Islam defines the purpose of life is crucial. To build a robust and comprehensive framework for his thesis, Lang structures his discourse chronologically, beginning with his personal journey through atheism. He dedicates the opening portion of his lecture to analyzing the psychological and philosophical factors that drove him away from religion during his youth, followed by a detailed, verse-by-verse exploration of how his encounter with the Quran radically dismantled his atheistic worldview.
The Atheist's Perspective: A Childhood Dominated by Domestic Trauma
To provide a complete understanding of his intellectual rebellion against God, Lang explores the environment of his upbringing. He clarifies that his mother played no part in his departure from faith. On the contrary, he describes her as an exceptional, deeply religious woman who possessed immense grace, dignity, and refined taste. As a dedicated nurse, she spent long hours working in a hospital ward specifically reserved for terminally ill patients who were facing death. Lang recalls arriving late at night to pick her up, only to have numerous patients call him over to praise his mother's profound kindness and unparalleled compassion. When she passed away, her funeral was attended by crowds of people, each eager to share personal stories of how she had touched their lives. She was widely regarded as a —a gentle, exceptionally patient educator who never spoke an unkind or vulgar word to anyone. She lived her faith authentically, embodying the absolute ideal of a religious person in both her professional duties and her daily interactions.
In stark contrast, Lang's father was an incredibly harsh, volatile, and deeply troubled individual who carried a profound, inexplicable rage within himself. Every evening, he attempted to suppress his internal violent urges by consuming massive amounts of alcohol. Far from calming him, the heavy drinking only amplified his unpredictable aggression. His father could shift from laughter to tears within a single minute, erupting into explosive fury without any discernible provocation. During these episodes, he acted with extreme brutality, throwing the entire household into absolute chaos. This destructive cycle repeated itself night after night; he would rage for hours until the alcohol finally took its toll and he collapsed into sleep.
As the fourth of four siblings, Lang experienced an intensely terrifying, unstable childhood. However, he emphasizes that the most damaging aspect of this environment was not being the direct target of physical violence. He explains that when a child is actively being attacked, struck, or chased through the house under the threat of severe harm, the mind shifts completely into a state of immediate survival. In those intense moments of crisis, there is no room to contemplate psychological trauma or long-term consequences; the sole focus is escaping the danger. Once the immediate violence subsides, the child often attempts to rationalize the event, frequently internalizing the blame and concluding that they must have done something wrong to deserve such punishment.
The Weight of Guilt and the Breakdown of Faith
According to Lang, the true horror of domestic violence lies not in physical pain, but in the overwhelming dread and paralyzing guilt that consumes a child's psyche. The absolute worst fear takes root when a child watches their father violently attack their mother. For Lang and his siblings, their mother represented the solitary source of warmth, emotional security, affection, and protection they knew. Witnessing the systematic abuse of this vital figure meant, from a child's perspective, that the entire foundation of their world was being destroyed.
This environment bred a multi-layered sense of guilt. First, there was the profound guilt associated with the intense hatred that naturally grew within Lang toward his father. Children possess an innate, biological inclination to love and respect their parents, yet watching these nightly atrocities forced a deep resentment that conflicted directly with that natural bond. Second, there was the constant, nagging suspicion that something they said or did had triggered the father's wrath.
Ultimately, the most destructive form of guilt stemmed from the realization of their own helplessness. While the parents argued and fought downstairs, Lang would hide beneath his bedcovers, trembling with fear, crying silently, and pressing a pillow over his ears to drown out the noise. In doing so, he recognized that he was actively trading his self-respect and the duty to protect his mother for his own personal safety. This perpetual cycle left him with a crushing realization of his absolute vulnerability, weakness, and perceived cowardice, causing intense self-loathing to grow alongside his hatred for his father.
Disillusionment with the World: The Turbulent 1960s and 1970s
As Lang grew into adolescence during the chaotic decades of the 1960s and 1970s, his personal despair expanded into a broader, systemic critique of the world. His domestic reality had taught him that violence, fear, and chaos were the defining characteristics of existence, and contemporary historical events seemed to validate this grim perspective. The assassinations of major political and civil rights leaders—including John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.—shattered any remaining optimism he had about human progress.
Furthermore, political corruption reached the highest levels of government, culminating in the forced resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, followed shortly by President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. In the streets of major American cities, including his own, violent riots erupted, while gang warfare spread rapidly through urban neighborhoods. On the global stage, the horrors of the Vietnam War were broadcast daily, showing innocent civilians and young children running naked down streets, screaming in terror as bombs destroyed their communities.
For Lang, these macrocosmic events perfectly mirrored the microcosmic abuse he witnessed in his own home. They solidified the lesson his father had inadvertently taught him: that raw violence, systemic injustice, and suffering were the dominant forces governing the planet. This realization led him to question the fundamental concept of a benevolent, all-powerful deity. He wondered why, if God truly existed and possessed infinite mercy, the world was structured to permit such widespread, unmerited agony. He questioned why human beings were not placed directly into Paradise from the very moment of their creation, thereby bypassing the need for earthly suffering entirely. He struggled to comprehend why innocent children were forced to endure the devastating consequences of wars they had no part in creating.
The Intellectual Crisis and the Shift to Formal Atheism
Driven by these unresolved dilemmas, Lang began demanding answers to profound theological questions that traditional religious figures could not adequately resolve. He questioned why an omnipotent God would create human beings with a profound vulnerability to sin and moral failure, rather than engineering them as infallible, purely obedient spiritual entities like angels. He continuously asked whether this flawed, pain-ridden reality was truly the absolute best world that an all-wise Creator could manifest.
He sought explanations from various authoritative figures—including priests, theologians, academics, and legal professionals—but found their responses entirely unconvincing, superficial, and emotionally detached from the reality of human suffering. The conventional apologetics offered to him failed to bridge the massive gap between the concept of a loving God and the empirical reality of unchecked global and domestic horror.
Consequently, at the age of sixteen, while enrolled in a strict Catholic school, Lang experienced a decisive intellectual break from faith. During a structured classroom debate focused on the divine purpose of human existence, he openly clashed with a priest regarding the morality of God's design. When the priest concluded the argument by stating that Lang's positions inherently meant he did not believe in God, Lang formally accepted the label, declaring himself an atheist in front of his peers. His open rebellion against orthodox dogma ultimately led him to fail his eleventh-grade religion course, despite his high academic capability and strong performance on examinations. For the next twelve years, he operated entirely under the assumption that religion was merely a human construct designed to provide false comfort in a chaotic universe.
The Encounter with the Quran: Initial Skepticism and Deep Engagement
Lang’s perspective shifted dramatically when he was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. At the time, he was working as a professor of mathematics at the University of San Francisco. One evening, having completely run out of reading material in his apartment, he noticed a copy of the Quran that had been gifted to him by a close friend. With no initial intention of seeking spiritual enlightenment, and driven purely by intellectual curiosity and boredom, he began reading the text from the very first page.
As he progressed into the second chapter, Surah Al-Baqarah, he encountered the narrative detailing the creation of humanity around the thirtieth verse. Initially, Lang scanned the text rapidly, noting familiar narrative elements regarding the first man and woman that mirrored the biblical accounts he had learned during his Christian upbringing. However, as an atheist, his immediate reaction was highly critical. He assumed that the author of the text fundamentally misunderstood the traditional theological implications of the creation story, finding several structural details highly confusing and counterintuitive.
Perplexed by the phrasing, Lang re-read the verses multiple times to discern the author's specific intent. By the third and fourth reading, a striking realization struck him: the text was operating on a highly sophisticated literary and philosophical level. He realized that the author was deliberately packing an extraordinary density of meaning, symbolism, and nuance into every single word and phrase. The writing was not a poorly constructed imitation of older scriptures; rather, it was a brilliantly calculated discourse that demanded absolute, line-by-line intellectual engagement.
The Creation Narrative in Surah Al-Baqarah: The Ultimate Theological Question
The pivotal moment of Lang’s encounter with the text occurred during his analysis of verse 30 of Surah Al-Baqarah. The verse begins with the proclamation: <And 'Indeed, (Khaliifah)...' I Lord a angels, authority earth make said successive the to upon when will your> Lang notes that the Arabic term signifies a deputy, trustee, or representative. This specific wording immediately shocked his established theological preconceptions. In the traditional Western religious narratives he grew up with, the earth was explicitly framed as a place of banishment—a lower realm where humanity was sent as a direct punishment for the original sin committed in Paradise. Yet, the Quranic text turned this paradigm upside down by stating that before human creation, God had already designated the earth as the primary, intentional destination for humanity, assigning them a noble role as trustees.
What fascinated Lang even more was the immediate reaction of the angels to this divine announcement. The text states that the angels questioned God, asking: <Will You You? Your and blood, causes corruption declare it one place praise sanctify sheds therein upon we while who>
Upon reading this objection, Lang was completely stunned. He realized that the angels were articulating the exact philosophical grievance that had driven him into atheism at the age of sixteen. They were asking the ultimate question in the history of religion: Why would an all-powerful, all-merciful God intentionally bring into existence a creature uniquely capable of causing immense global devastation, initiating wars, practicing systemic injustice, and shedding blood? Why create a hostile, morally fragile being when God already possessed the angels, who existed in a state of perpetual obedience, purity, and flawless worship?
Lang felt an overwhelming sense of vulnerability and shock, describing the experience as if the author of the Quran had intimately examined his life, understood his childhood trauma, captured his intellectual anger, and placed his exact personal crisis directly into the scripture. The text did not shy away from the problem of evil; instead, it placed the question at the very beginning of the human story.
When God responds to the angels with the concise declaration, <Indeed, I do know know, not that which you> Lang experienced a powerful emotional reaction. Operating under the feeling that he was locked in a direct argument with a living voice speaking from the pages, he mentally challenged the text, demanding that this voice explain what it knew that humanity did not, especially in light of the immense suffering present throughout the world.
Deciphering the Divine Reply: The Power of Human Intellect and Language
As Lang continued reading, he realized that the Quran does not dismiss the angels' question, but immediately begins providing a comprehensive, multi-layered answer in the subsequent verses. Verse 31 states: <And 'Inform Adam He Me Then and angels are if names names—all of said, showed taught the them them. these, to truthful.' you>
Analyzing this passage through a philosophical lens, Lang understood that the text was employing profound symbolism to define the unique nature of humanity. The ability to know and assign is not a superficial skill; it represents the advanced cognitive capacity for conceptual thought, abstraction, and the gift of complex language. The Quran explicitly establishes that the defining characteristic of the human being is its intellect and its capacity to learn under divine guidance.
Lang elaborates on the profound evolutionary and historical implications of this gift of language. Because human beings possess the ability to categorize the world through language, their capacity to learn extends far beyond individual, isolated experiences. Language enables the transmission of knowledge across immense spans of time and space. A human being can learn from the collective experiences, discoveries, and mistakes of individuals who lived thousands of years ago on the opposite side of the planet.
Consequently, human knowledge becomes uniquely cumulative. Each successive generation does not need to reinvent the foundational tools of civilization; instead, they build directly upon the accumulated intellectual inheritance of their ancestors. Lang notes that the Quran consistently reinforces this high valuation of human intellect, pointing to the very first revelation given to the Prophet Muhammad in Surah Al-Alaq: <Read Lord Who by created... he in knew man name not. of pen—taught taught that the which who your> The emphasis on the underscores the vital importance of recorded knowledge and literacy in the human design. The text repeatedly commands human beings to actively utilize their reason, intellect, and critical thinking faculties, framing rational contemplation not as an enemy of faith, but as its essential catalyst.
The narrative reaches its resolution when the angels respond to God's challenge by admitting their inherent cognitive limitations, stating: <Exalted Indeed, Knowing, Wise. You You; are except have is it knowledge no taught the us. we what who> The angels acknowledge that the capacity for independent conceptual thought, data synthesis, and creative learning is entirely outside their programmed nature.
God then instructs Adam to inform the angels of the names, a task that Adam executes effortlessly. Through this demonstration, the text illustrates that while human beings are physically fragile and morally compromised, they possess an intellectual capacity that transcends that of the angels.
God concludes the discourse by reminding the angels: <Did And I [aspects] and concealed? earth? have heavens know not of reveal tell that the unseen what you> Lang summarizes that this entire divine demonstration serves to answer the initial objection regarding human corruption and bloodshed. The verses indicate that the ultimate purpose of human existence is intimately tied to this unique capacity for intellectual growth, moral agency, and the conscious choice to attain knowledge and faith despite living in a world characterized by physical distance from God and the systemic presence of earthly trials.
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Below is a detailed English summary of Jeffrey Lang's famous lecture <The Purpose of Life>, based on the transcript you uploaded. Rather than translating the transcript literally, it condenses the entire lecture into a coherent narrative while preserving the speaker's argument, major illustrations, and theological insights.
The Purpose of Life
A Detailed Summary of Jeffrey Lang's Lecture
(Approximately 1,500 words)
Jeffrey Lang begins his lecture by explaining that he wishes to discuss one of the most fundamental questions any religion must answer: What is the purpose of human life? Since Islam was still a relatively unfamiliar religion to many Americans, he believes that people naturally want to know how the Qur'an explains why human beings exist and what role they are meant to play in the world.
Rather than beginning from the perspective of a believer, Lang deliberately starts from the perspective of an atheist. This approach reflects his own life. Before becoming a Muslim, he spent many years as an atheist, and he believes that understanding his doubts is essential to understanding why the Qur'an eventually transformed his worldview.
Lang recalls that his mother was a deeply religious Christian who worked as a nurse. She was widely admired for her kindness, compassion, and patience. Even after her death, countless people attended her funeral to tell stories about how she had comforted them during the most difficult moments of their lives. She embodied everything that people associate with genuine faith.
His father, however, was the complete opposite. He struggled with alcoholism and possessed an uncontrollable temper. Night after night, Lang witnessed domestic violence in his own home. His father frequently abused his mother, creating an atmosphere of fear that dominated the family's life.
As a child, Lang learned that being physically attacked by his father was terrifying, but he insists that an even deeper pain came from watching his mother suffer. She represented love, security, and moral goodness. Seeing her repeatedly abused created profound emotional wounds.
The experience also produced overwhelming feelings of guilt. He hated his father for his violence, yet felt guilty for hating him because children are taught to love and honor their parents. He also blamed himself, wondering whether something he had done had somehow caused the abuse. Worst of all was the shame of hiding in bed while his mother suffered downstairs. Like many abused children, he believed that his inability to protect her revealed his own weakness and cowardice.
These experiences led him to ask questions about God at an early age.
He prayed repeatedly for God to remove his father from their lives. Nothing changed.
As the violence continued, his prayers appeared unanswered. He began asking why a merciful God would allow innocent people to suffer. Why would a righteous woman endure endless abuse? Why should children spend every night terrified that they might lose their mother?
As he grew older, these personal experiences merged with events occurring throughout American society during the 1960s and 1970s. The assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., political corruption during the Nixon era, racial violence, urban riots, gang warfare, and the horrors of the Vietnam War all reinforced his conviction that violence was the dominant force governing human history.
He began asking an even larger question:
Why did God create this world at all?
If God is all-powerful, why not create human beings already in Paradise? Why not make them like angels, incapable of evil? Why expose humanity to suffering, temptation, and injustice?
Whenever he sought answers from ministers, priests, teachers, or educated professionals, he found their explanations unsatisfactory. Eventually, at the age of sixteen, while attending a Catholic school, he publicly declared himself an atheist during a classroom discussion. Ironically, he later failed his religion course despite believing that he understood the material better than many of his classmates.
Years later, while teaching mathematics at San Francisco State University, a friend gave him a copy of the Qur'an.
He had no religious expectations. Having run out of other books to read, he simply began reading it from the first page.
When he reached the second chapter, something unexpected happened.
The Qur'an's account of humanity's creation differed significantly from the biblical narrative he had known since childhood.
The verse announcing God's intention to place a khalifah—a representative or vicegerent—upon the earth immediately caught his attention. Humanity was not presented as a race condemned because of original sin but as beings intentionally created for a meaningful mission.
Even more striking was the reaction of the angels.
They asked God:
"Will You place therein one who will spread corruption and shed blood?"
Lang was astonished.
This was precisely the question he himself had spent his entire life asking.
Why create a creature capable of violence, oppression, hatred, and destruction?
Why create human beings at all when angels already worship God perfectly?
For the first time, Lang encountered a sacred text that openly voiced his own deepest objections to God's plan.
God's reply was equally powerful:
"Indeed, I know what you do not know."
Initially, this answer frustrated him. He almost argued with the text itself.
If God truly knew something humanity did not know, then what was it?
The Qur'an, however, did not ignore the question. Instead, it began unfolding the answer step by step.
The next verses describe God teaching Adam "the names of all things."
Lang had heard this passage before, but he had never considered its philosophical significance.
He concluded that "the names" symbolize much more than vocabulary.
Naming requires language.
Language makes abstract thought possible.
Language allows human beings to organize knowledge, preserve memory, communicate across generations, and build civilization.
Unlike other creatures, humans can accumulate knowledge over thousands of years. One generation inherits discoveries from previous generations and extends them further. Human learning becomes cumulative.
This, Lang argues, is humanity's unique gift.
The Qur'an repeatedly emphasizes reading, writing, reflection, and intellectual inquiry.
Its first revealed command is "Read."
It praises the One "who taught by the pen."
Throughout the Qur'an, people are repeatedly encouraged to think, reason, observe nature, and use their intellect.
Lang remarks that he had never encountered another scripture that placed such consistent emphasis on the disciplined use of reason.
The dialogue between God and the angels therefore becomes clearer.
The angels correctly observe humanity's potential for violence.
God does not deny this reality.
Instead, He reveals another dimension that the angels had overlooked.
Human beings possess extraordinary intellectual and moral capacities.
They are capable of learning, creativity, moral growth, repentance, compassion, and freely choosing goodness.
These capacities justify humanity's unique role on earth.
According to Lang, this transforms the meaning of life.
Life is not primarily a punishment.
Nor is it an arbitrary test designed merely to determine who enters Heaven.
Instead, earthly existence provides the environment in which human potential can unfold.
Freedom makes both evil and virtue possible.
Without genuine freedom there could be no authentic love, moral responsibility, or spiritual growth.
God could certainly have created only obedient creatures.
Indeed, He already had—the angels.
But humanity exists for a different purpose.
Human beings are invited to discover God voluntarily rather than simply obey automatically.
Their value lies not in perfection but in their capacity for continual growth.
As Lang continued reading the Qur'an, he noticed another remarkable feature.
The text seemed to engage directly with his own thoughts.
Frequently he found himself arguing with its statements, objecting to certain ideas, only to discover that later verses addressed exactly the objections he had just formulated.
He describes this experience as entering into an extended dialogue with the Qur'an.
Rather than demanding blind acceptance, the text appeared to anticipate questions and gradually answer them.
This profoundly changed his understanding of revelation.
Faith was no longer the absence of questioning.
Instead, questioning itself became part of the journey toward faith.
By the end of the lecture, Lang concludes that the purpose of life is inseparable from humanity's role as God's representative on earth.
Human beings exist to learn, to develop morally and intellectually, to exercise freedom responsibly, and to seek God through conscious choice rather than compulsion.
The world is therefore not evidence of divine neglect but the very arena in which human dignity can emerge.
The existence of suffering does not disappear from Lang's theology.
Rather, suffering becomes part of the context within which courage, mercy, justice, forgiveness, patience, and compassion become meaningful realities.
Without real hardship, these virtues could never truly exist.
Lang closes by emphasizing that the Qur'an did not convert him through emotional appeal or miraculous experiences.
It converted him because it took his questions seriously.
Instead of dismissing doubt, it acknowledged it.
Instead of silencing inquiry, it invited deeper reflection.
The Qur'an presented humanity not as a failed creation but as a purposeful one—created with freedom, endowed with reason, entrusted with knowledge, and called to become worthy representatives of God on earth.
For Jeffrey Lang, this vision answered the questions that had haunted him since childhood and ultimately transformed an atheist mathematician into one of the most influential American Muslim thinkers of his generation.
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The Purpose of Life By Jeffrey Lang
Transcript
0:1515 secondssalamu alaykum
0:2424 secondsuh my uh I've come from the University of Kansas we're playing in the final four this very
0:3232 secondsinstant so I want to let you know that you've asked a lot of me today no I'm just
0:3939 secondsjoking all right I want very briefly I I just want to talk a little bit about uh what the Quran has to say about the
0:4848 secondspurpose of life uh I think this is an extremely important subject especially for Muslims
0:5555 secondsLiving in America because we're uh sort of a minority and new religion here and many people are interested in what we
1:021 minute, 2 secondsbelieve and I think the primary question that people want answered when they first consider another religion is how that religion views it's how that
1:111 minute, 11 secondsreligion views the purpose of life the purpose of human of our existence here and so
1:191 minute, 19 secondsum I'm going to begin though uh talking about the ath an atheist point of view because I want to talk about what sort
1:281 minute, 28 secondsof qu answers thean might have for an atheist so to begin this I need to talk for about 5 or 10 minutes about you know
1:351 minute, 35 secondswhat made me what I believe contributed to my becoming an atheist because I grew up in a Christian family and then I'll
1:421 minute, 42 secondstalk for about 45 minutes or so about uh what I experienced in the Quran and how
1:501 minute, 50 secondsthat sort of changed my perception so it's very simple but my wife always says I should summarize what I'm going to do before I talk because it's easy to get
1:581 minute, 58 secondslost in my speeches and you know my wife doesn't have a lot of confidence in my speaking
2:072 minutes, 7 secondsability okay so uh let me start out by uh mentioning that my mother certainly played no role in my becoming an atheist
2:162 minutes, 16 secondsmy mother was a wonderful woman uh a beautiful lady she had tremendous
2:232 minutes, 23 secondsdignity and class she uh uh the neighbors loved her she was a
2:322 minutes, 32 secondsa registered nurse and she put in many extra hours at the hospital her she worked in the W that dealt with dying
2:402 minutes, 40 secondspatients and when I would come and pick her up late from work at night all the patients would not all the patients but many of the patients would drag me over
2:482 minutes, 48 secondsand talk to me and tell me what a wonderful woman my mother was when she died her funeral is packed
2:562 minutes, 56 secondsand person after person that came up to me had a story story to tell about my mother and her goodness time and time again people described her as Jeff you
3:043 minutes, 4 secondsknow your mother is a true Saint she was a deeply religious woman a great mother a great teacher a gentle person she
3:143 minutes, 14 secondsnever cursed I never heard her cursed you know swore ever in her whole life never heard her speak to anybody rudely
3:213 minutes, 21 secondsor speak about anyone rudely she was a tremendous example of a of a truly religious person and she didn't wear on
3:293 minutes, 29 secondsher sleeve it was just slowly but surely you could see it just in her day-to-day interactions with
3:373 minutes, 37 secondspeople uh my father on the other hand was a difficult man um my
3:463 minutes, 46 secondsfather for some strange reason had this tremendous rage inside him I don't know
3:523 minutes, 52 secondswhere he got it uh he had this terrible violence inside him and every night he would try to quell that that violence
4:014 minutes, 1 secondwith hard hard drinking and his drinking though only made him all the more volatile because my father could be
4:094 minutes, 9 secondslaughing and joking one minute and he could fly into an angry Rampage the next for some unexpected reason you never
4:174 minutes, 17 secondsknow what would trigger it and once he flew into that angry Rampage it would take you know he would just go wild in
4:244 minutes, 24 secondsthe house the house would be in havoc and he would rage on and on and on and it would take an awful lot of liquor
4:314 minutes, 31 secondsand several hours before he would finally go to sleep and this would happen night after night after night and so my four
4:414 minutes, 41 secondsbrothers and I I was the fourth in line my four brothers and I lived a frightening and precarious childhood but
4:484 minutes, 48 secondsI'd have to say the worst of it was watching my father regularly taunt and threaten and abuse my mother and it
4:564 minutes, 56 secondswould happen day in day in day in Day Out night in night out and it was an ever never ending
5:045 minutes, 4 secondsnightmare you see it's really not so bad when you're the target of your father's violence you might think it's bad when a child is the target of their father's
5:135 minutes, 13 secondsviolence but it's really not all that bad uh at the moment of attack you're really not thinking about anything
5:205 minutes, 20 secondsexcept your own Survival when he's firing punches at you or kicking you on the ground or chasing you throughout the house or when he's
5:285 minutes, 28 secondsthreatening you I'm going to hurt you bad boy you're not thinking about anything at that moment except
5:365 minutes, 36 secondsEscape while all that's going on you're not thinking about the aftermath or Consequences the psychological repercussions or anything like
5:445 minutes, 44 secondsthat and when it's all over you might even excuse the onslaught because you figure maybe you somehow deserved it if
5:525 minutes, 52 secondsnot for what you did this time maybe for something you did in the past you could always put the blame on yourself
6:006 minutesbut a far worse fear is the terror that overcomes you when you watch your father go after your
6:076 minutes, 7 secondsmother because she's the only source of warmth and kindness of love and protection that you know and if he were
6:166 minutes, 16 secondsto take that away from a little boy standpoint then you lost everything but far worse than the fear
6:256 minutes, 25 secondsis the guilt and it comes over you from several directions first of all there's the guilt that comes at you upon you from the growing
6:356 minutes, 35 secondsantipathy you have towards your father because we're taught to love and respect our parents and we are born with
6:426 minutes, 42 secondsthis natural bonding attachment to them but when you watch something like this happen night after night after night and you this rage is growing
6:516 minutes, 51 secondsinside you you're being pulled in opposite directions then there's also of course the guilt that comes when you think that
6:596 minutes, 59 secondsthat you might be the cause of this night's Night's violence maybe something you said or did that you didn't even realize triggered
7:077 minutes, 7 secondsit maybe just your father's dislike of you triggered an argument between your mom and him that is now raging on
7:177 minutes, 17 secondsdownstairs but the worst guilt of all and it is by far the very worst is knowing that you did nothing to
7:267 minutes, 26 secondsstop your father from hurting your mother because while he raged on against your mother downstairs you hid in your bed and you
7:357 minutes, 35 secondstrembled underneath the covers maybe you whimpered and you cried and you put the pillow on your head and thus you traded personal
7:447 minutes, 44 secondsrespect for personal safety and with each such inent incident you come to realize with ever greater
7:537 minutes, 53 secondsand greater Clarity you come to realize your own weakness your own impotence your own incompetence your own
8:028 minutes, 2 secondsworthlessness your own cowardice and the hate grows in festers inside you not only for the man that you
8:108 minutes, 10 secondscall father but for yourself as well it is a terrible terrible thing to make a young boy choose between his
8:198 minutes, 19 secondsmother and himself it is extremely unfair I noticed that tomorrow there's
8:268 minutes, 26 secondsgoing to be a a lecture about tomorrow morning a lecture about spousal
8:318 minutes, 31 secondsabuse uh given by Dr Shaheen um rzan I hope you'll all attend it I think it's a
8:398 minutes, 39 secondsvery important subject when I was little I used to daydream about life without my
8:468 minutes, 46 secondsfather I just wanted the violence to go away I wanted not to be afraid anymore I felt like I was trapped in a
8:548 minutes, 54 secondsbad dream and there was no way out and so I prayed to God again and again and again to take to remove my
9:039 minutes, 3 secondsfather from our lives but he was always there and very soon I began to wonder if God really
9:109 minutes, 10 secondswas I could not fathom why God would subject my mom to such lifelong punishment could not imagine what great
9:189 minutes, 18 secondssin she must have committed or that we her children must have committed to deserve my father I didn't have the maturity to sort out such questions but I had enough
9:269 minutes, 26 secondsfear and anger to provoke them I was too young to see the wisdom in allowing my father to I mean my mom to
9:349 minutes, 34 secondssuffer the violence and abuse of my father I was too young to understand why God would let innocent children tremble night after night after night in their
9:429 minutes, 42 secondsbeds fearing that they might not see their mother the next morning I was too young to see how the mercy and of God
9:499 minutes, 49 secondscould even extend to my father with all his terrible failings all I could see in my world was chaos and violence and fear
9:589 minutes, 58 secondsand so it became easy for me to question the existence of God and I began to do that at a very early age I
10:0610 minutes, 6 secondsthink I'll even say that the turmoil of the 60s and 70s that's the age when I was a teenager in you know late 60s
10:1310 minutes, 13 secondsearly 70s only uh reinforced my skepticism when John and Robert F Kennedy were assassinated or Martin
10:2210 minutes, 22 secondsLuther King was gunned down when vice president agu was kicked out of office and Richard Nixon soon after him when
10:2910 minutes, 29 secondsthe race riots erupted in city streets like mine and gang fights erupted in our cities many of those which I was involved in when I saw the bizarre and
10:3710 minutes, 37 secondssenseless Carnage of Vietnam they all confirmed the lesson that was already ingrained in me and that my father had taught me so well that the world is
10:4510 minutes, 45 secondsdominated by random consuming undiscriminating violence and very soon I began to ask why why would God make it
10:5410 minutes, 54 secondsthat way why wouldn't he just pop us into heaven from the first and spe us all this suffering why does he let little
11:0211 minutes, 2 secondschildren in Vietnam get napalmed and run down a street naked on fire when they had done nothing to deserve it you know
11:1011 minutes, 10 secondswhy does he let the race riots go on why does he let the leaders be assassinated why does he just let the violence go on and on and on for people who had nothing
11:1911 minutes, 19 secondsto do with it it wasn't of their own making why didn't he just make us angels and pop us into heaven if he could make us Angels which I was always thought he
11:2811 minutes, 28 secondscould why did he make us so susceptible to sin why didn't he make us impervious to
11:3611 minutes, 36 secondsit like he made the Angels is this the best world he could create I thought is this the most perfect world he could create for our
11:4511 minutes, 45 secondsexistence for our beginning I just couldn't figure it and all the explanations I received from priests and doctors and law you know
11:5311 minutes, 53 secondsfrom whoever you know spoke to me or taught me they just didn't make sense to me in any case so I became an atheist
12:0112 minutes, 1 secondwhen I was 16 even though I was going to Catholic school at the time declared myself an atheist in one class it was confrontation between me and a priest we
12:0912 minutes, 9 secondswere talking about God and the purpose of life and I expressed My Views and he said well then you don't believe in God I said well I guess I
12:1612 minutes, 16 secondsdon't and then through my junior Junior and Senior year of high school I got an F in religion even though I continued to do very well on a
12:2512 minutes, 25 secondstest in any case when I was 28 the make long story short some friends of mine gave me a copy of the Quran and one
12:3312 minutes, 33 secondsnight I was sitting in Diamond Heights my apartment in Diamond Heights in San Francisco I was working that time at the University of San Francisco I was 27 28
12:4212 minutes, 42 secondsat that time I can't remember and I ran out of stuff to read and I took this gift that my friends gave me and I began to read
12:5012 minutes, 50 secondsit and I came to the first verse well I opened the Quran read the first page then the second and then very quickly in
12:5912 minutes, 59 secondsthe second Surah about 37 verses into the Quran I Came Upon the story of mankind and uh I have to admit I read
13:0713 minutes, 7 secondsthrough it very quickly it was about 9 10 verses long story of the first man and woman and I recognized some of the details it was similar to what I had
13:1513 minutes, 15 secondslearned when I was a child but I noticed that there was something wrong it was apparent to me that whoever authored
13:2313 minutes, 23 secondsthis Quran of course I wasn't a Muslim at the time so I didn't have any idea who that was whoever authored this Quran clearly did not understand the real
13:3113 minutes, 31 secondsmeaning of the story because they had obviously gotten the details confused they even didn't even understand the whole purpose of the
13:3913 minutes, 39 secondsstory and so uh I just read through it once and then I read through it again just to try to see what kind of point the author was making and then I read
13:4713 minutes, 47 secondsthrough it a third time and a fourth and then I realized this is something strange going on here I'm going to read this much more carefully I'm going to
13:5513 minutes, 55 secondsneed to go through this story line by line verse by verse because it's obvious that the author is trying to bring out another
14:0214 minutes, 2 secondspoint and I wasn't quite sure what it was but definitely he packs a lot of meaning into almost every
14:1014 minutes, 10 secondsword and I thought the writer at least seems to have a great measure of Brilliance and so I'll try to sort of
14:1814 minutes, 18 secondstake you through what my experience was as quickly as I can so I came to the second the 30th verse of the second
14:2514 minutes, 25 secondsSurah Surah Al bakar and it began like this this it said behold your lord said to the angels I am going to place a
14:3414 minutes, 34 secondsvicant on Earth the Arabic word is Khalifa means a representative or an emissary of mine I am going to place a
14:4114 minutes, 41 secondsvcin on Earth and they said the angel said will you place therein one who will spread corruption and shed
14:4814 minutes, 48 secondsblood while we celebrate your praises and glorify your Holiness when God said he said truly I
14:5614 minutes, 56 secondsknow what you do not know see that's the verse that hooked me that's the verse that caught my attention that's the one that kept on
15:0315 minutes, 3 secondsmaking me read the story again and again and again because listen to the way it begins behold your lord said to the angels I'm going to place a
15:1215 minutes, 12 secondsrepresentative of mine on earth a vicant of mine an emissary one who acts on my behalf I thought that's not the way it
15:1915 minutes, 19 secondsgoes you're not supposed to be placing man on the earth in some positive role some elective office you place man as a
15:2815 minutes, 28 secondson Earth as a punishment for a sin clearly I knew the author didn't quite get the point but still it was an
15:3615 minutes, 36 secondsamazing line but then I come to the next line and it says and the angels say will you place her in one who will spread
15:4215 minutes, 42 secondscorruption and shed blood well we celebrate your praises and glorify you I looked at it again I couldn't believe
15:5015 minutes, 50 secondsthe question they said will you plac her in one who will spread corruption and shed blood while we the Angels celebrate
15:5715 minutes, 57 secondsyour praises and glorify you I looked at that and I said exactly that would be my
16:0616 minutes, 6 secondsquestion why would you create this being supposedly for some positive role
16:1416 minutes, 14 secondswhen he's capable of doing tremendous wrongdoing when he could spread corruption and shed much blood why would you create this violent
16:2316 minutes, 23 secondsand pernicious creature when you could create angels as the Angels Clearly say
16:3016 minutes, 30 secondswell we well we the Angels celebrate your praises and glorify you they were asking one of the most
16:3716 minutes, 37 secondsfundamental questions in the entire history of religion why create you
16:4316 minutes, 43 secondsman this utterly fallible creature this creature who could rebel against God will who could do such tremendous
16:5116 minutes, 51 secondswrongdoing who could wreak havoc like no other creature on earth when you can make them angels and look where the question question is being asked it's
16:5916 minutes, 59 secondsbeing asked in heaven it's almost like saying look why don't you just make him angels and be up here in heaven with us you know why
17:0717 minutes, 7 secondsdon't just make him Angels pop him into heaven he's fine why would you put him on Earth where he could feel distant from you where he could work out his
17:1617 minutes, 16 secondsworse criminal Tendencies act them out feeling somehow independent and apart from you and free to do whatever he wants when you could just make them
17:2417 minutes, 24 secondsangels and put them in heaven and make them perfectly submissive to your will I looked at that question and said that's my
17:3217 minutes, 32 secondsquestion I'm not I'm one not even a single verse into the story of mankind and there before me I see my question
17:4217 minutes, 42 secondsthat whole question everything that I ever thought everything that I ever experienced everything that I ever knew was in that question was if the author
17:5017 minutes, 50 secondstook my life and wanted to pick out exactly the right question to humiliate me to provoke me to anger me why create
17:5917 minutes, 59 secondsman this most destructive and violent creature when you can make him angels and then look at the answer and
18:0818 minutes, 8 secondshe said God said truly I know what you do not know you know in modern parament we would say I know exactly what I'm
18:1718 minutes, 17 secondsdoing I read that and said what you know what you do not know you know exactly what you're doing well please inform me
18:2418 minutes, 24 secondstell me what you're doing cuz you know I'm I'm 28 years old and I haven't figed out it yet and I have a lot of issues that I'm still dealing with that's
18:3418 minutes, 34 secondsconnected to this question you can't just get off that easy you can't just tell me you know exactly what you're
18:4118 minutes, 41 secondsdoing not after what I've been through not after you made me this way and then I realized of course I was
18:4918 minutes, 49 secondsarguing with a god I didn't even believe in and that would happen several times as I read through the Quran and sometimes I would just get into
18:5718 minutes, 57 secondssuch so that's so agitated by what I read i' start arguing with this voice that's that's that I'm reading before me
19:0619 minutes, 6 secondsthat's calling to me so we turn to the next verse it turns out that the Quran just
19:1419 minutes, 14 secondsdoesn't dismiss the question and starts to answer it a little bit and in the next verse it says and he taught Adam God taught Adam
19:2219 minutes, 22 secondsthe names of all things and then he placed them before the angels and said tell me their names if you are right so
19:3119 minutes, 31 secondsthis verse is clearly referring to the previous one but notice what it says now I I from my own background I remember
19:3819 minutes, 38 secondsAdam naming things but it wasn't connected to any answer to any philosophical question but here notice what it says and he taught Adam the
19:4619 minutes, 46 secondsnames of all things and I realized already just from the first verse you got to read these verses very carefully because it's packed with a lot of
19:5419 minutes, 54 secondssymbolism and meaning and he taught Adam the names of all things so here we see Adam is not only just a creature who
20:0120 minutes, 1 secondknows how to name things who's acquiring the gift of language but he's also a learning creature God is teaching him and right here right in this verse and
20:0920 minutes, 9 secondsit'll come even clearer in the subsequent verses that the very first thing that that the Quran is going to emphasize here is man's intellect he is
20:1820 minutes, 18 secondsa learning creature he is taught and what is he taught what is what is one of the great intellectual gifts he's given
20:2520 minutes, 25 secondsin response to the Angel's question the gift of Lang language because through language mankind could not only learn but he could learn things not only through his
20:3420 minutes, 34 secondsown experience but he could learn things that other people have experienced of times and places that are hundreds thousands of years and Miles separated
20:4220 minutes, 42 secondsfrom him and so that all our knowledge becomes cumulative every generation learning from the generation before it
20:5020 minutes, 50 secondsI'm learning today from authors I read from other sides of the world that may have existed 2,000 years ago and so we all contribute to our
20:5820 minutes, 58 secondscollective learning and knowledge and so I'll see later in the Quran when the Quran will emphasize this again and again and again like in one verse it
21:0621 minutes, 6 secondssays read in the name of your lord who created created a man out of a tiny creature that clings read it commands the reader for your lord is most
21:1421 minutes, 14 secondsBountiful why is he most Bountiful what great gift did he give you for he taught man the use of the pen and through it
21:2121 minutes, 21 secondstaught him what he otherwise could not know and time and time and time again the Quran will call upon men to use his
21:2821 minutes, 28 secondsintellectual faculties and swear by his intellectual faculties and to and to use them
21:3821 minutes, 38 secondscorrectly as a because they play a fundamental role in guiding him to truth I never came upon a scripture that
21:4621 minutes, 46 secondsputs so much emphasis on the correct use of our intellectual faculties on the harnessing of
21:5321 minutes, 53 secondsReason in helping us attain to Faith and he taught Adam the names of all things and then he placed them before the
22:0122 minutes, 1 secondangels and said tell me their names if you are right okay you have this objection to you have this natural question about
22:0822 minutes, 8 secondsthis creation of mankind here this mankind is this human being this human creature is a learning
22:1622 minutes, 16 secondscreature he has many intellectual gifts here I'm going to place these things before you tell me their names if you are right about man and what did the
22:2522 minutes, 25 secondsangel say in the next verse they say glory to you we have no knowledge except
22:3222 minutes, 32 secondswhat you have taught us in truth it is you are knowing the wise they say this is this task this intellectual test
22:4022 minutes, 40 secondsthat's put before them is beyond their grasp lotice what they emphasize we have no knowledge this would take knowledge
22:4722 minutes, 47 secondsthis would take an intellect that they don't possess in truth it is you who are knowing the wise you got it's easy for
22:5522 minutes, 55 secondsyou you have you're the knowing the wise you have knowledge you have wisdom but this would take knowledge and wisdom that is beyond
23:0523 minutes, 5 secondsus and so in the next verse we read and he said oh Adam tell them tell them their names and when he had told them their
23:1323 minutes, 13 secondsnames notice how it just like it's nothing for him for mankind he has this phenomenal ability and when he had told them their
23:2123 minutes, 21 secondsnames if it's was just a triviality for man he names them oh Adam tell them their names and
23:2923 minutes, 29 secondswhen he had told them their names God said did I not tell you that I know what is unseen in the heavens and the Earth and I know what you reveal and
23:3923 minutes, 39 secondsconceal clearly going back to the Angel's question yes you have these natural concerns about the creation of
23:4623 minutes, 46 secondsmankind yes he could do these evil things but look at this tremendous intellect he
23:5423 minutes, 54 secondshas this is something you have overlooked that you haven't considered and that's clearly the point of these
24:0224 minutes, 2 secondsverses even though I under I felt that the author didn't quite you know it was as if I I realized that he didn't just
24:1024 minutes, 10 secondsdidn't misunderstand the story he was taking one of the great stories in the history of humankind one of the fundamental greatest stories in the
24:1924 minutes, 19 secondshistory of mankind and molding it and using it as a vehicle for an entirely original
24:2624 minutes, 26 secondsmessage and God said did I not tell you that I know what is unseen in the heavens and the Earth and I know what you reveal and
24:3524 minutes, 35 secondswhat you conceal in other words didn't I tell you I know exactly what I'm doing and then in the next and didn't I
24:4224 minutes, 42 secondsnot tell you what I that I know what you reveal and conceal I looked at that what question
24:4924 minutes, 49 secondsdid there I mean what did they reveal and what did they conceal what did their question reveal and
24:5624 minutes, 56 secondsconceal I thought about it for a minute oh it's obvious what did their question reveal just go back and look at the
25:0325 minutes, 3 secondsquestion it revealed the sinful and sin Sinister propensities of man I mean it's obvious right why are
25:1225 minutes, 12 secondsyou all looking at me like that you're starting to scare me you're all looking very serious am I losing
25:1925 minutes, 19 secondsyou wow okay so they revealed the Sinister and evil propensities of man
25:2625 minutes, 26 secondsbut what could they question conceal and all you have to do is think about it for a minute human beings yes they could do evil yes they could do
25:3525 minutes, 35 secondswrong yes they could create misery but they could also do exactly the opposite they could choose to do evil they could
25:4325 minutes, 43 secondschoose to do tremendous good they could choose to do tremendous violence they could choose to show tremendous compassion they could choose to be you
25:5125 minutes, 51 secondsknow to live by falsehood they could choose to live by the the greatest truths they could be terribly ugly they could be terribly
25:5925 minutes, 59 secondsbeautiful and I up until that point in my life I like the angels that only saw one half one side of the
26:0626 minutes, 6 secondscoin for the first time when I read that verse believe it or not it was an eye opener for me I had always been obsessed
26:1526 minutes, 15 secondswith the evil potentials of human beings when I read that verse I realized that and I had a great example right in front
26:2226 minutes, 22 secondsof me with my own mom I realized that I had been blinded by only one side human
26:2926 minutes, 29 secondsnature so we go on to the next verse and behold we said to the angels bow down to Adam and they bowed down but
26:3826 minutes, 38 secondsnot so el el is like the father of Satan Satan satanic beings forces creatures
26:4826 minutes, 48 secondsexistences he refused and was arrogant he was of those who reject Faith an interesting
26:5526 minutes, 55 secondsstatement and behold we said to the angels bow down to Adam and they bowed down bowing down could symbolize two
27:0327 minutes, 3 secondsthings bowing down could symbolize the superiority of superiority or potential superiority of one being over another
27:1127 minutes, 11 secondsand so they bow down to them bowing down could also mean that they serve that creature in some respect of course the
27:1927 minutes, 19 secondsQuran says that all beings serve God all created beings Ser of God but this verse seems to be indicating and the rest of the Quran will make it clear that these
27:2727 minutes, 27 secondsAngelic beings these Angelic uh uh entities will serve the development of
27:3427 minutes, 34 secondsmankind we'll even see later that the satanic beings serve the development of mankind both forces Angelic and satanic
27:4327 minutes, 43 secondswill serve the development of mankind because one will present man with a choice to do the most altruistic
27:5127 minutes, 51 secondsthings the other will simultaneously try to influence man in the opposite direction and so human human beings will be moral creatures and
28:0028 minutesI'll have to make moral decisions and it's in those moral decisions that they will grow spiritually and morally as human beings and they'll take that into
28:0828 minutes, 8 secondsthe next life and the Angelic and satanic forces will be catalst for those moral choices that they make they will
28:1628 minutes, 16 secondsheighten the human being's awareness of the rightfulness and the wrongfulness of the choice he's about to make and the self the soul the nefs as they say in
28:2528 minutes, 25 secondsArabic will have to make the choice between good and evil and that choice that test will come again and again and
28:3328 minutes, 33 secondsagain as human beings either grow or decline and those tests will come again and again and again to try to help him
28:4128 minutes, 41 secondstowards his spiritual Evolution to bring him back but that choice is ultimately ours but I'm getting ahead of
28:5028 minutes, 50 secondsmyself and so we said to the angels bow down to Adam and they bowed down but not so El is Satan this rebellious Force
28:5928 minutes, 59 secondsthis evil prompter the one who Whispers into the human heart he comes into being and with the introduction of Satan
29:0829 minutes, 8 secondswe have the introduction of evil that evil influences on human beings and notice why El does not bow down he
29:1729 minutes, 17 secondsrefuses because he was arrogant you know we often hear the what's the root of all evil in the west it's always money greed Etc here the
29:2629 minutes, 26 secondsQuran says that seems to be saying that the root of all evil is not always material wants it's not always money it's not always greed at the heart of
29:3529 minutes, 35 secondsevil is arrogance putting yourself above all others of assigning to yourself special
29:4429 minutes, 44 secondspriority and neglecting the rights of others of of of pride and arrogance and
29:5329 minutes, 53 secondsenvy the source of evil he was of those who reject faith I looked at that verse and I said
30:0130 minutes, 1 secondokay I mean I get why you would create angels to sort of influence man in a positive direction but why in the story
30:0930 minutes, 9 secondsnow are you introducing Satan what sort of role was Satan play and then of course you just think
30:1730 minutes, 17 secondsabout it for a minute and you say yes the story is telling us that on one hand we have these magnanimous urgings come from One Direction on the other hand we
30:2530 minutes, 25 secondshave these satanic urgings come com from another Direction in other words the Quran is telling us that man is not only a learning creature but he's a moral
30:3330 minutes, 33 secondscreature he has understanding of right and wrong and God infuses those allows those influences to come to him man is
30:4230 minutes, 42 secondsnot only an intelligent being but a moral being and so you know the Quran is not
30:5030 minutes, 50 secondsall that difficult to understand you just sort of read it I found and you just sort of follow your nose through it and see what it's saying
30:5730 minutes, 57 secondsI'm sure as most of you in this audience know okay so we see that man is not only
31:0531 minutes, 5 secondsa learning creature but he is a a moral being as well there's another verse in the Quran that says by the soul and that
31:1131 minutes, 11 secondswhich Whispers into it or which breathes into it it's morality it's immorality
31:1931 minutes, 19 secondsand it's God Consciousness both of these we we are under the influence of and God allows us to be under the influence of us he
31:2831 minutes, 28 secondscreates us to to be exposed to both influences and then the verse says truly he is successful who causes it to
31:3531 minutes, 35 secondsgrow causes his soul his self his real self to grow and truly he is lost who stunts it
31:4531 minutes, 45 secondswho disallows who who destroys his personal growth so mankind is not only an
31:5231 minutes, 52 secondsintellectual being but a moral being and we said in the next verse Oh Adam dwell
31:5931 minutes, 59 secondsyou and your spouse in the garden and eat freely thereof what you wish and eat freely thereof what you wish but come not near uh this
32:0832 minutes, 8 secondstree for then you will be among the wrongdoers I looked at this ver and I was you know starting to wonder if the
32:1532 minutes, 15 secondsauthor was drifting back to the old story again I was confused and we said oh Adam dwell you and your spouse in a garden and eat freely thereof what you
32:2432 minutes, 24 secondswish but come not near this tree for you will be among the wrongdoers I thought it was drifting back to the old story man sins man's
32:3232 minutes, 32 secondspunished for his sins with Earthly life maybe the author is drifting he had a good idea now he's drifting back to the sort of traditional story maybe he couldn't man make his mind up what story
32:4032 minutes, 40 secondshe wanted except for a couple things about this verse and this happened with almost every verse as I read through it is that uh the whole tenor of the
32:5032 minutes, 50 secondspassage is sort of not the what you would expect I noticed that the Quran in this story has a tremendous pension for understating
32:5832 minutes, 58 secondsthings CU it says uh and said to Adam dwell you and your spouse in a garden and need freely thereof what you wish to Adam and his
33:0633 minutes, 6 secondsspouse but come not near this tree for you will be among the wrongdoers I mean there's no sense of God being threatened by the possibility of man eating from
33:1433 minutes, 14 secondsthe tree in this story we don't see that you know in this verse we don't see that God is nervous at the prospect that he's threatened by the prospect that he's
33:2133 minutes, 21 secondsanxious about it the tree that he picks picks it seems like he's just picking out any tree nothing special about the
33:2933 minutes, 29 secondstree go not near this tree for you will be among the wrongdoers Satan will later come to him
33:3733 minutes, 37 secondsand tell him it's a tree of eternal life of a kingdom that never decays turns out to be a complete faucet in his part
33:4433 minutes, 44 secondsnothing special about the tree it's just a tree God's not nervous at the prospect at all you know in the tradition that I
33:5333 minutes, 53 secondscame from God is threatened by the prospect he has to put a angel the fiery sword sword by to protect the tree so that mankind never goes next to it again
34:0134 minutes, 1 secondI'm not putting it down I'm just pointing out the difference of the story they're both beautifully told but they you know has to guard the tree why because if they eat from it
34:1034 minutes, 10 secondsthey'll become Gods like us oh this man he's already has a rebellious nature can you imagine if he
34:1934 minutes, 19 secondseats from this tree I don't know can't let him get near that tree but here just you know calmly says
34:2834 minutes, 28 secondsyou know but if you do you will be among the wrongdoers God is not worried about himself it's just warning man making it
34:3634 minutes, 36 secondsclear that if you do this you've committed a wrongful deed again the the whole tenor of the P all these verses that read through it is
34:4434 minutes, 44 secondsGod knows exactly what he's doing okay next verse but Satan caused them to
34:5334 minutes, 53 secondsslip and expelled them from the state in which they were and and we said go you all down some of you being the enemies
35:0035 minutesof others and on Earth will be your dwelling place and provision for a time what I
35:0835 minutes, 8 secondssaid I mean you know I was expecting now the rage the anger the violence the
35:1635 minutes, 16 secondsjealousy that's what I was expecting okay they eat from the tree where's the rage the violence I'm going to punish you now
35:2435 minutes, 24 secondsyou're going to sweat on Earth and you're going to suffer and you're going to stub your toe and you're going to work and you're going to labor and you're going to die there for
35:3435 minutes, 34 secondswhat you did and where is the woman right and the
35:4235 minutes, 42 secondswoman right she's the one who's going to suffer the most right she'll have to suffer labor pains and monthly Cycles
35:5135 minutes, 51 secondsright and bleeding and crying out when her children come into the world she'll scream out
35:5735 minutes, 57 secondsout and worst of all the greatest humiliation the man will rule over
36:0436 minutes, 4 secondsher when he's obviously her intellectual inferior because she and the angel seduced she and she she and Satan seduced him he just bumbled along and
36:1336 minutes, 13 secondsdid committing a real you know wrong deed well I don't mean to make light of it but the story is obviously different
36:2336 minutes, 23 secondsthough you know no no threat here as a matter of fact look at the way it says oh Adam dwell you and your spouse in the
36:3036 minutes, 30 secondsgarden and eat freely thereof what you wish but come not this near this tree for you will be the among wrongdoers then they make the mistake but Satan caused them to slip and expelled them
36:3936 minutes, 39 secondsfrom the state in which they were and we said go all you down some of you being enemies of others will be adversaries of others some of you will be adversaries
36:4736 minutes, 47 secondsof each other and on Earth will be your dwelling place and provision for a time this is not a deity losing it if you
36:5536 minutes, 55 secondslook at it I mean on Earth will be your dwelling place and provision for a Time those not the words of a of a God that
37:0237 minutes, 2 secondshas got lost you know that is really extremely upset on Earth will be your dwelling place and provision for a time when I
37:1037 minutes, 10 secondswalked into the hotel today and they said uh and it's this nice one up here I don't know the name I can't remember the name of it but as a continental
37:1837 minutes, 18 secondsbreakfast and they said your room will be room 111 and uh there's a conf continental breakfast in the morning I didn't say
37:2737 minutes, 27 secondsyou know I didn't think they were mad at me you know cuz they said you know you're going to sleep here and this is going to be your provision in the morning you oh thank
37:3637 minutes, 36 secondsyou but notice something else about this verse I mean when you read these verses for the first time I don't know maybe I'm nuts and many people think I am but
37:4537 minutes, 45 secondswhen you read these verses for the first time I mean this is just so much that catches your attention but Satan caused
37:5237 minutes, 52 secondsthem to slip I remember I couldn't get that verse out of that those words out of my head Satan caused them to slip to
38:0038 minutesslip the greatest sin in the history of the human race and it's called a
38:0638 minutes, 6 secondsslip you know in my culture slip means you know you just momentarily for a fraction of a second you lose your focus
38:1538 minutes, 15 secondsit's not a big deal my Uncle Bob used to always say to me uh Jeff I'm sorry I'm five minutes late I slipped up you know
38:2238 minutes, 22 secondsit's the understanding is it's no big deal it's just a slip you that's what we say when we make a minor mistake I slipped up don't worry about it never
38:3038 minutes, 30 secondshappened again a slip I said momentary loss of focus the greatest sin in the history of humanity why we're all here
38:3838 minutes, 38 secondswhy we're all suffering why we experience death a slip I didn't believe it I went to my Arabian friends at that time I didn't know any Arabic that came
38:4638 minutes, 46 secondsto this verse we went through it line by line I said now don't change any words just read them one at a time but Satan made them and I said okay this one this
38:5538 minutes, 55 secondsone right here what does it mean tell me what that means they looked at it says uh
39:0539 minutes, 5 secondsslip slip and expelled them from the state in which they
39:1239 minutes, 12 secondswere a slip I thought but then maybe I was trying to force the traditional understanding the traditional
39:2039 minutes, 20 secondsinterpretation maybe it was just a slip I mean after all they didn't commit murder they didn't commit robbery rape
39:3139 minutes, 31 secondspillaging assault they theye theye a couple of pieces of fruit it's not the greatest sin in the
39:4039 minutes, 40 secondshistory of humanity by any means and then the next verse says and then they were expelled from the state in which they
39:4839 minutes, 48 secondswere What state were they let's seea let's go back from where we started first mankind is being taught we see he's an intellectual being then we show
39:5639 minutes, 56 secondshe's a moral being moral being means he's a being that's going to have to make choices and then God gives him this Choice it's not a huge deal it's not the
40:0440 minutes, 4 secondsgravest sin in the history of humanity by any means it's Minor by any standards they make it though we see that God originally
40:1240 minutes, 12 secondsintended to put man on Earth as his vicin we see a period of preparation where he's being prepared intellectually where he's growing intellectually where he's growing as a moral creature when
40:2140 minutes, 21 secondsdoes God finally put him on Earth what signals that he's ready to begin he makes his first independent Choice it's
40:2940 minutes, 29 secondsnot the worst deed in the history of humanity it's minor on anybody's scale but it shows that mankind is ready to
40:3640 minutes, 36 secondsact on his own to be his own to make his own choices that God has empowered him to make choices and he's ready to make them
40:4540 minutes, 45 secondsand carry them out and see them most often to their expected ends if God wills and that seems to be the only real
40:5340 minutes, 53 secondssignificance of it but I thought maybe I'm getting this wrong maybe God just blows off into an angry Rampage the next verse so I look
41:0241 minutes, 2 secondsat the next one and it says and then Adam received words from his Lord and He Turned and God turned to him mercifully
41:1041 minutes, 10 secondsfor he's off returning ever merciful well if I had any doubts up till now that God is Not enraged by what
41:1841 minutes, 18 secondsthis has happened that God hasn't prepared mankind for this choice for what was eventually going to happen that
41:2541 minutes, 25 secondsall this was preparation for mankind to begin his Earthly sojourn in this famous allegory if I had any doubts before now
41:3341 minutes, 33 secondsI had them certainly didn't have them after reading this verse this verse is entirely consoling reaching and merciful
41:4141 minutes, 41 secondsreaching out to Mankind and mercy mankind goes to Earth he's obviously afraid he obviously feels remorse he's
41:4941 minutes, 49 secondsin an unfamiliar environment and what does God do he turns to him he turns to him in Arabic the word is like has the meaning of like a a father turning
41:5741 minutes, 57 secondstowards an infant or a child or somebody or a parent a mother turning towards her child and he turns to him mercifully and
42:0542 minutes, 5 secondshe forgot his off returning ever merciful and Adam receives words from his Lord what kind of words probably
42:1242 minutes, 12 secondswords of consolation words of Hope words tell them not not to be scared and in the next verse we see those are exactly
42:1942 minutes, 19 secondsthe type of words that Adam receives he says go down Adam and his spouse go down from the state all of you together repeating that again just so that we
42:2842 minutes, 28 secondsknow that this is not a punishment here go down from the state all of you together and truly there will come to you guidance from me and whoever follows
42:3642 minutes, 36 secondsmy guidance has nothing to fear nor shall they grieve it is uh it is an emotional
42:4342 minutes, 43 secondspicture this couple young couple is here you know in in fear and in shame feeling remorse and
42:5342 minutes, 53 secondsGod reaches out to them and turns towards them and tells them you have nothing to fear nor shall you grieve I know this is tough for you but you've
43:0143 minutes, 1 secondbeen prepared for it up up till now through your entire existence it had to happen this is a necessary stage in your
43:0843 minutes, 8 secondsdevelopment in your growth but just hang in there follow my guidance be true to me and I'll be true to you I'll guide you I'll help you I'll do whatever you
43:1743 minutes, 17 secondsneed just follow my guidance and you have nothing to fear nor shall you agrie okay
43:2743 minutes, 27 secondsso I was impressed you know I thought this author whom I didn't know I
43:3643 minutes, 36 secondsthought was extremely brilliant because the story is entirely coherent but it's bringing out entirely
43:4343 minutes, 43 secondsnew meaning and it's stressing some things in the human equation that I would never have normally thought of
43:5043 minutes, 50 secondsactually I thought these sort of things argued against the existence of God here the author was using them to say look at these these play a fundamental role in
43:5843 minutes, 58 secondsthe purpose of life what intellect human beings have
44:0544 minutes, 5 secondsintellect right in response to the angel question they are moral creatures and they are subjected to evil and Angelic
44:1344 minutes, 13 secondspromptings and they have to choose between them again and again and again throughout their existence and their growth which the Quran talks about
44:2044 minutes, 20 secondsfrequently it's going to depend on that we're here to grow as we will see but it emphasizes Choice human beings are
44:2944 minutes, 29 secondscreatures of choice it also emphasizes suffering suffering that's pretty nice
44:3844 minutes, 38 secondswriting it of emphasizes suffering human beings are going to suffer here on Earth that's the first thing that the story mentions spread corruption and shed
44:4644 minutes, 46 secondsblood Havoc suffering pain yes these three things play essential role somehow the story is saying in our development
44:5544 minutes, 55 secondson Earth in our very purpose of our development these are the three things we've always had the most trouble grappling with all theologies have why
45:0445 minutes, 4 secondsgive us intellect if it leads us often to challenge in our minds the existence of God if we can't reconcile the
45:1245 minutes, 12 secondsexistence of God with our minds with our reason why give us choice if we could choose to do wrong just make us Angels
45:2045 minutes, 20 secondswhy let it suffer so on Earth just pop us into heaven and here the Quran is telling that these play a sense roles in
45:2745 minutes, 27 secondsour in our attaining of faith not only these of course it also mentions guidance God's forgiveness Revelation
45:3445 minutes, 34 secondsEtc Angelic forces satanic Temptation and mentions all these other things as well but these three essentially really caught my attention I never expected
45:4345 minutes, 43 secondsthat these three things would be emphasized and so as I read through the Quran I looked anytime I saw anything
45:5045 minutes, 50 secondsthat seemed to relate to this I would write down notes and underline it you know and I would walk up and down in San Francisco with my pen as I'm walking
45:5845 minutes, 58 secondsbecause I like to walk about seven miles every day and I'd be underlining my friends would always say Jeff what book are you reading I would lie to them I tell them oh it's a great novel or
46:0646 minutes, 6 secondssomething you know I didn't want them to know that I was reading the Quran I think they thought I was going
46:1346 minutes, 13 secondsnuts but in any case so very quickly I was wondering does the Quran really emphasize reason does it really
46:2046 minutes, 20 secondsemphasize Choice does it really emphasize suffering how much more time do I have uh Madam
46:2746 minutes, 27 secondsspeaker 35 25 25 okay I'll do the best I can so let me just try to indicate to you as I read through the Quran and I'll
46:3546 minutes, 35 secondstry to get through this quickly because you guys look tired and I know you're interested to finding out how that basketball game is turning
46:4446 minutes, 44 secondsout uh let's see does the Quran really emphasize reason as essential to human growth to this experience we're having
46:5146 minutes, 51 secondson Earth to our very purpose and the answer is definitely yes so much so that even Western orientalists people who wrote against
47:0047 minutesthe Quran and said that this is a major feature of the Quran a feature that you cannot miss hre lens writing in the
47:0947 minutes, 9 secondsearly part of this Century the f one of the famous orientalists you know who wrote very much against Muslims hoping to unseat them from their religious belief he
47:1747 minutes, 17 secondswrote the Quran and this is his quote is not far from considering unbelief as an infirmity of the human mind unbelief is
47:2647 minutes, 26 secondshe thought and he was saying it mockingly it's like you know you can't think straight you're not using your mind right as my father used to
47:3547 minutes, 35 secondssay um Maxim rodinson wrote at length about the the rationalistic approach of the Quran to
47:4447 minutes, 44 secondsFaith and this rational tone of the Quran is one of its most Salient features Beyond doubt I'll just give you a few quotations is that one of its
47:5347 minutes, 53 secondsfundamental themes is that people ignore or reject God SS and corrupt religion precisely because they do not use their
48:0048 minutesreason the Quan will say that again and again and again the Quran says about the disbelievers they refuse to reason and
48:0748 minutes, 7 secondsare people who do not reason I have seven such quotes in the Quran the uh the Quran will say will you
48:1448 minutes, 14 secondsnot reason it mentions that 14 times to the reader God reveals signs and lessons and admonition so that and this is a quote
48:2348 minutes, 23 secondsfrom the Quran Perhaps Perhaps you will finally use your reason there are eight such statements in the Quran from the quran's Viewpoint reason
48:3248 minutes, 32 secondsand Faith are allies just as illogic and false belief are allies and it clearly sets the conflict along these lines it
48:4148 minutes, 41 secondssays the right way has henceforth become clear from error those who benefit most from the Quran are persons of insight 16 such
48:5048 minutes, 50 secondsstatements in the Quran firmly rooted in knowledge eight such statements used a reason 10 such statements stand on clear evidence and proof seven such statements
48:5948 minutes, 59 secondsthose who oppose this Revelation are diluted nine such statements in manifest error 28 statements ignorant 15 foolish
49:0749 minutes, 7 secondsthree have no understanding nine only follow smise in conjecture nine and blindly adhere to tradition multiple
49:1449 minutes, 14 secondsmultiple times states that in an almost Socratic style the Quran repeatedly quizzes the reader and calls into
49:2149 minutes, 21 secondsquestion his or her assumptions again and again it asks us what do you think 18 such statements have you
49:2949 minutes, 29 secondsconsidered this or that 13 did you suppose seven sounds like a math teacher do they not Ponder two such
49:3749 minutes, 37 secondsstatements do you think do you even think 18 such statements the message is clear to grain truer faith we need to
49:4549 minutes, 45 secondsfree ourselves from inherited Notions and examine our beliefs rationally learning plays a key role in
49:5249 minutes, 52 secondshuman development read the Quran exhorts the reader for God taught us the use of the pen and taught humankind what it
49:5849 minutes, 58 secondsotherwise could not know in life nature and history in the Quran there are signs and lessons for those who are wise there
50:0550 minutes, 5 secondsare 21 such statements the Quran States over 100 times that has been revealed to make things clear I thought the author of this Quran
50:1450 minutes, 14 secondsmust have had a strong mathematical Insight you know a natural mathematician all throughout when I was reading I was trying to imagine what he must have been
50:2350 minutes, 23 secondslike God teaches Humanity both directly and indirectly and some sometimes so subtly that we are unaware of his
50:2950 minutes, 29 secondsinstruction thus he tests Us in multi multifarious ways of course I just want to make it clear Muslims believe the God
50:3750 minutes, 37 secondshimself is the the author of the Quran you know sometimes I give this speech and people come away and ask me Jeff who is the author of the Quran
50:4750 minutes, 47 secondsanyway um but you know I was I didn't know so I was just trying to make figure it
50:5450 minutes, 54 secondsout repetition is indicative of the importance given to certain ideas it should be observed that the Arabic word for knowledge in the Quran El appears
51:0351 minutes, 3 seconds854 times in the text in its various forms it's one of the most frequently occurring words so the Quran really does
51:1151 minutes, 11 secondsput great emphasis on reason in our spiritual Quest does it put great emphasis on
51:1951 minutes, 19 secondsChoice well here's what it has to say let there be no compulsion in religion the right way is hence forth forth clear
51:2651 minutes, 26 secondsfrom eror it's a choice and it must be freely made when it's a choice
51:3351 minutes, 33 secondsbetween correctness and error between right and error between reason and falsity had God willed he could have
51:4251 minutes, 42 secondsindeed guided you all it says in the Quran I why not I thought why not just guide us
51:4951 minutes, 49 secondsall why let some of us choose to go this way and that way the Quran was constantly provoking poing me as I read
51:5651 minutes, 56 secondsit do not the unbelievers know that had God willed he could have guided all mankind oh do not the Believers know
52:0452 minutes, 4 secondsthat had God will he could have guided all mankind okay I'm an unbeliever I thought tell me why didn't you guide all
52:1052 minutes, 10 secondsmankind if you want us to be in you Conformity of your will just make us that way and if we had so willed we
52:1852 minutes, 18 secondscould have given Every Soul its guidance why did you let us be creatures of choice just program us to do the
52:2752 minutes, 27 secondsright thing never make a wrong choice had God will he could have made us all one Community he could have made us
52:3352 minutes, 33 secondsclones of one another but he didn't wasn't part of his plan Enlightenment has come from your lord he who sees does
52:4152 minutes, 41 secondsso to his own good he who is blind is so to his own hurt it's your choice says it
52:4952 minutes, 49 secondsagain and again the Quran remember when I was reading this I was a disbeliever you know and I this scripture is constantly reminding me it's your choice
52:5752 minutes, 57 secondsJeff it's no compulsion in this it's your choice it's up to you you know you don't you know you're not might you're
53:0453 minutes, 4 secondsprobably not reasoning correctly here think a little harder come on try a few more steps and whoever is guided is only to
53:1353 minutes, 13 secondshis own gain and whoever is stray I am only a Warner it's your choice we reveal to you the book with the truth for mankind who
53:2253 minutes, 22 secondswho lets himself be guided does so is for his own good he goes astray it's his own to his own hurt it's his
53:2953 minutes, 29 secondschoice there are many many such references I'll stop there but you get the point cran clearly emphasizes that
53:3753 minutes, 37 secondschoice plays a key role in our development but what about suffering I mean you know suffering is
53:4453 minutes, 44 secondsthe biggie right I me that's the real major question what does the Quran have to say about suffering you know because every religion deals with suffering in a
53:5353 minutes, 53 secondsdifferent way you know it's either something you have to be saved from and so some religions stress
54:0054 minutessalvation or it's something that you have to sort of transcend through Med meditation and training so you can sort of not feel it so much get above it and
54:0954 minutes, 9 secondsBeyond it some religions see it as primarily punishment some see it as some of the
54:1854 minutes, 18 secondsmore ancient religions see it as the result of the precarious and Whimsical you know control of many gods working
54:2654 minutes, 26 secondsagainst each other playing with human beings different religions have dealt with it in different ways but almost all of them I would indeed say all of them
54:3554 minutes, 35 secondshave sort of seen it as something not so good but let's see what the Quran has to say about it something to be avoided to
54:4354 minutes, 43 secondstranscended to be saved from the Quran says just the opposite you are going to experience
54:5054 minutes, 50 secondsit you will suffer in this life and it plays a fundamental role in your
54:5854 minutes, 58 secondsdevelopment and your growth and in what you are to become this scripture didn't just say you're going to experience it it said
55:0555 minutes, 5 secondsyou should embrace it you should struggle through it your life should be a struggle it says it should be a
55:1355 minutes, 13 secondsJihad yeah right but that's that's what it says
55:2155 minutes, 21 secondsJihad means struggle when the Quran most says Jihad it's very seldom it's most often not in the context of fighting
55:2855 minutes, 28 secondskatal is the Arabic word for fighting but you know it says even in the meca verses long before Muslims had to defend themselves against oppressors
55:3755 minutes, 37 secondsmentions that you have to struggle in the path of God with the Quran it even says struggle in the path of God with
55:4455 minutes, 44 secondsthis Quran life is a struggle it says in one verse most assuredly we will try you with something of danger and hunger and
55:5255 minutes, 52 secondsthe loss of worldly Goods with the loss of your lives and the fruits of your labor most assuredly we will try you
55:5955 minutes, 59 secondsit's not just talking about evil people good people but give the good news the Glad Tidings be happy for those who are
56:0856 minutes, 8 secondspatient in adversity and suffering good news I thought doesn't the author understand the terrible
56:1656 minutes, 16 secondseffects of suffering give the good news to those who are patient through adversity who when Calamity befalls them say truly
56:2456 minutes, 24 secondsunto God we belong and truly unto him we shall return in other words that this could benefit
56:3156 minutes, 31 secondsthem so was a remarkable statement here's another one do you think that you could enter Paradise without having the
56:3856 minutes, 38 secondslike of those who passed away before you and the next verses start to explain these people were good people who suffered terribly do you think that you
56:4656 minutes, 46 secondscould enter Paradise without having going through this without going through the same why I thought why do you have why do we have to suffer in life
56:5556 minutes, 55 secondsMisfortune and hardship befell them and so shaken were they that the Apostle and the Believers with them would exclaim when will God's help come these are good
57:0457 minutes, 4 secondspeople when will God's help come oh truly God's help is always near you will certainly be tried in your
57:1357 minutes, 13 secondspossessions and yourselves the Quran tells the reader you're going to have face hardship it's guaranteed Every Soul
57:2057 minutes, 20 secondsmust Taste of death and we try you with Calamity and prosperity both as a means of Tri and to us you are returned you are
57:2957 minutes, 29 secondsgoing to have hardship here there is going to be no no heaven on Earth this is environment is made to be
57:3757 minutes, 37 secondsan environment of adversity it is made to be an environment where you have to work where you have to struggle where you have to
57:4457 minutes, 44 secondsstrive and it plays a key role oh man truly you've been toiling to your lord in painful toil but you shall meet
57:5257 minutes, 52 secondshim you're toiling yes but you shall meet him we certainly created man to face distress what I thought we
58:0158 minutes, 1 secondcertainly have created man to face distress you made us to face distress does he think that no one has
58:1058 minutes, 10 secondspower over him sometimes people get you know so so down they just think oh this no one's this can't be a god look how I'm
58:1858 minutes, 18 secondssuffering he will say I have wasted much wealth some people just become totally devoted to worldly AG does he think that
58:2558 minutes, 25 secondsno one sees him have we not given him two eyes to see with a tongue and two lips to communicate with to learn from by communicating can he
58:3458 minutes, 34 secondssee around him can he tell from communication with other people haven't we pointed out to him the two conspicuous
58:4158 minutes, 41 secondsways what are the two conspicuous ways but he attempts not the uphill climb one of them is the uphill climb
58:5058 minutes, 50 secondsand it says this is the way you should be pursuing and what will make you comprehend hand the uphill climb it is to free a slave or to feed in a day of
58:5958 minutes, 59 secondshunger an orphan nearly related or the poor one lying in the dust then he or she is of those who believe and exhorts
59:0859 minutes, 8 secondsone another to patience and exhorts one another to Mercy you have not attained to Faith until you struggle the uphill
59:1559 minutes, 15 secondsclimb it's telling us you should pursue the uphill climb what is the uphill climb reaching out to your fellow man
59:2259 minutes, 22 secondswho's in it who suffers to feed the poor one but help the poor soul that's lying
59:2959 minutes, 29 secondsin the dust and all over the world there are people in that state and we watch the news as if it's just
59:3759 minutes, 37 secondsentertainment and the Quran tells us this is something you should involve yourself is that is the road that you should
59:4359 minutes, 43 secondstravel it describes a successful life as an uphill climb well I can see I'm running out of
59:5159 minutes, 51 secondstime so I'm going to have to tie this up in about 15 minutes I guess but definitely the Quran emphasizes
59:5959 minutes, 59 secondsthese three elements in human drama but as I read through it I couldn't see how it all fit together I mean why didn't
1:00:071 hour, 7 secondsGod just why why why do we have to experience these what purpose do they play just pop us in
1:00:151 hour, 15 secondsa HTH Beam us up I thought well one thing like I mentioned
1:00:211 hour, 21 secondsbefore the con will repeatedly in uh emphasize that we're here to grow and to learn and some just I'll give you four
1:00:301 hour, 30 secondsor five quick verses because I know you're tired it says uh our Lord and raise up in their midst a messenger from among them who shall recite unto them
1:00:391 hour, 39 secondsyour signs and they shall teach them the book and the wisdom and who shall cause them to grow we should we have to learn learn
1:00:481 hour, 48 secondswisdom in the book and Revelation in particular and who shall cause us to grow and we have sent among you of yourselves a messenger to recite our
1:00:571 hour, 57 secondssigns to you and to cause you to grow truly God was gracious to the Believers this is in the third Surah when he raised up from among them a messenger
1:01:051 hour, 1 minute, 5 secondsfrom themselves to recite his signs to them and to cause them to grow it is he who has sent among you the the who has sent among the unlettered
1:01:141 hour, 1 minute, 14 secondspeople a messenger from among them to recite his signs and to cause them to grow these are all distinct references just two more there are many more and
1:01:221 hour, 1 minute, 22 secondsthe soul and that which breathed into it is it's immorality and it's God Consciousness he is indeed successful who causes it to grow and he is indeed a
1:01:301 hour, 1 minute, 30 secondsfailure who stunts it and in verse in 92nd Surah Surah Al it says far removed from it will be the righteous who give
1:01:381 hour, 1 minute, 38 secondshis wealth that he may grow so the purpose somehow is to grow we're in a growing learning developing
1:01:471 hour, 1 minute, 47 secondsexperience we weren't just created when we came into the world this is actually a stage of our creation just as our development in the womb was a stage in
1:01:561 hour, 1 minute, 56 secondsour creation our essential stage in our physical creation this is an essential stage in our personality Creation in the
1:02:051 hour, 2 minutes, 5 secondscreation of our real being that which we take into the next life our essential selves we've gone from the physical
1:02:131 hour, 2 minutes, 13 secondsCreation in the womb primarily physical now to the human creation the personality Creation in this
1:02:231 hour, 2 minutes, 23 secondsstage I thought maybe I'm you know projecting my own Neurosis into the scripture maybe it doesn't really
1:02:301 hour, 2 minutes, 30 secondsemphasize that life has a purpose but time and time again I would find it does for example just quickly it says those
1:02:371 hour, 2 minutes, 37 secondswho remember God standing and sitting and lying down and reflect upon the creations of the Heaven and Earth and say our Lord you did not create all this
1:02:461 hour, 2 minutes, 46 secondsin vain you did not create all this in purpose just when I was starting to think maybe the Quran really doesn't State a purpose our life it really
1:02:541 hour, 2 minutes, 54 secondsdoesn't mean there's a real purpose of life maybe I'm reading into it something that is there I would come upon verses like that that would force me to just
1:03:021 hour, 3 minutes, 2 secondsread a little further make me think well maybe it's just around the corner we have not created the Heaven and the Earth and whatever is between
1:03:091 hour, 3 minutes, 9 secondsthem in play if we wish to take a sport we could have done it by ourselves if we were to do that at all God doesn't
1:03:161 hour, 3 minutes, 16 secondscreate the satisfies whims or fancies or entertain himself do you think that we created you purposely and that you will not be
1:03:241 hour, 3 minutes, 24 secondsreturned to us it says in the 23rd sorah the true Sovereign is too exalted above that in the 44th s we did not create the
1:03:321 hour, 3 minutes, 32 secondsheavens Earth and all that is between them in play that serves a
1:03:381 hour, 3 minutes, 38 secondspurpose now what sort of purpose can it possibly serve so I tried to you know apparently the Quran speaks about Believers and those who are the
1:03:471 hour, 3 minutes, 47 secondsrejectors you have the Believers on the one hand the rejectors on the other now apparently God has created us to be believers so I tried to study what the
1:03:551 hour, 3 minutes, 55 secondsQuran has to say about the Believers and it's a natural thing to do to see how what he it wants us to become if it has
1:04:031 hour, 4 minutes, 3 secondsanything to do with these essential elements that it's stated I mean it's a natural way to approach it I think you agree do you agree somebody nod your
1:04:131 hour, 4 minutes, 13 secondshead that's what I say to my math students you know just one head nod is enough for a mathematician get one head going okay I
1:04:221 hour, 4 minutes, 22 secondsdid my job okay so how does the Quran describe the
1:04:301 hour, 4 minutes, 30 secondsBelievers what are they supposed to attain to what is their ultimate thing that they're supposed to get what are they ultimately supposed to
1:04:381 hour, 4 minutes, 38 secondsachieve and it's very clear when you read the the Quran that what they will achieve in this life and will experience to so much greater degree in the next is
1:04:461 hour, 4 minutes, 46 secondsthey will experience a relationship of Love With God they will turn to God in love and God will turn to them in love
1:04:541 hour, 4 minutes, 54 secondsin the Quran God's mercy compassion forgiveness kindness beneficience warmth generosity all the
1:05:031 hour, 5 minutes, 3 secondsthings we normally think associated with God are freely given to all mankind but when God Quran speaks of God
1:05:111 hour, 5 minutes, 11 secondslove we would normally think of that as God's love but when the Quran speaks about God's love it's talking about something very special love is always
1:05:191 hour, 5 minutes, 19 secondspresented as a relationship a relationship between two without if we do not turn to God in love
1:05:281 hour, 5 minutes, 28 secondsthen we just receive his Mercy forgiveness kindness beneficience warmth generosity all those wonderful nurturing
1:05:361 hour, 5 minutes, 36 secondsthings his nurturing and we reject it and so we never really experience that love because we never really turn
1:05:441 hour, 5 minutes, 44 secondsto it and open ourselves up to it it is always there for us but unless we enter into that relationship that love that
1:05:521 hour, 5 minutes, 52 secondsgive and take that relationship a ship of Love Is Never develops we reject it and that's
1:06:001 hour, 6 minuteswhat the word cfir means it means to to reject to turn your back to ignore to throw something a gift that someone gives you behind your
1:06:091 hour, 6 minutes, 9 secondsback and so the Quran tells us that the Believers will experience this Sublime relationship of
1:06:161 hour, 6 minutes, 16 secondslove it says yet there are men who take others besides God as equal loving them as they should love God but those who believe love God more
1:06:251 hour, 6 minutes, 25 secondsardently say if you love God follow me and God will love you and forgive you your faults for God is the forgiving the merciful oh you believe if any from
1:06:351 hour, 6 minutes, 35 secondsamong you should turn back from his faith then God will assuredly bring a people he loves and who loves him and
1:06:421 hour, 6 minutes, 42 secondsthroughout the chronal mention Time and Time AG go that God loves this the believer God loves this type of person God loves that type of person and so
1:06:501 hour, 6 minutes, 50 secondsforth and so on so it's quite and I'm trying to pick the speed up here so you'll have to excuse me for that but it is Apparent
1:06:591 hour, 6 minutes, 59 secondsfrom the Quran that one of the purposes of creation maybe the essential purpose of the creation is to produce from this subset of
1:07:061 hour, 7 minutes, 6 secondshumanity this subset of humanity that will freely enter a relationship of Love With God they will not only experience the
1:07:151 hour, 7 minutes, 15 secondsbeauty of other relationships in their lives but this love that they will experience with God is the sublime
1:07:221 hour, 7 minutes, 22 secondsexperience that they will enjoy not only in this life but infinitely greater in the next when all the distractions all
1:07:291 hour, 7 minutes, 29 secondsthe masks are Stripped Away okay I thought you created us to love you for us to turn to you in love
1:07:381 hour, 7 minutes, 38 secondsand to experience your love to receive and experience your love but why do you need these just pop us into heaven love
1:07:441 hour, 7 minutes, 44 secondsus you know and make us love you program us to love you you know you'll make my
1:07:501 hour, 7 minutes, 50 secondsdog love me you know do the same sort of thing I kept on coming back to the same issue just do
1:07:591 hour, 7 minutes, 59 secondsit you know okay still couldn't see it and I was almost through the Quran and I thought
1:08:071 hour, 8 minutes, 7 secondseither I'm dumb or this scripture just never really got to it okay so I didn't give up I thought okay what's the next
1:08:151 hour, 8 minutes, 15 secondsnatural thing to do okay so the P so we're here to develop this relationship of Love With God the Quran tells us that you know if we are believers and we do
1:08:231 hour, 8 minutes, 23 secondsgood will experience great joy and peace in this life not only through our relationship with God but through complimentary relationships with all the
1:08:311 hour, 8 minutes, 31 secondspeople around us in this world will be a one for us of peace and serenity even though we have to struggle and survive and
1:08:381 hour, 8 minutes, 38 secondssuffer but I couldn't see you know how this all tied in with this suffering business and why it couldn't just put us into heaven so what's the next natural
1:08:471 hour, 8 minutes, 47 secondsthing to say Okay so we're created to have this relationship of love to with God to enter this relationship to experience and receive all that he has
1:08:541 hour, 8 minutes, 54 secondsto offer us so the natural thing to do is to study the two partners in that
1:09:021 hour, 9 minutes, 2 secondsrelationship what does the Quran have to say about us the believer what does it ask of him and her what does it require
1:09:091 hour, 9 minutes, 9 secondsof them and then what does the Quran tell us about God and then is there some essential Nexus some essential connection between them and doesn't have
1:09:181 hour, 9 minutes, 18 secondsanything to do with these cuz if the Quran doesn't show that
1:09:251 hour, 9 minutes, 25 secondsthen the the essential link that links all this together that pieces it all together is missing and as I thought to myself
1:09:331 hour, 9 minutes, 33 secondswhoever this author is and by now I knew he had fantastic genius even though he came from the primid of confines of the most backward
1:09:421 hour, 9 minutes, 42 secondsmost uncivilized sector of humanity of of people that had no literary history really to speak of no great works of
1:09:511 hour, 9 minutes, 51 secondsliterature no scriptures that preceded him even though he came from the desert of
1:09:591 hour, 9 minutes, 59 secondsculture even though this came out of that environment and the mind behind it had to be tremendously and gen phenomenally genius to come out of that
1:10:071 hour, 10 minutes, 7 secondssurrounding and produce something like this if that essential link was missing I knew that you know he was great but
1:10:171 hour, 10 minutes, 17 secondsyou know and extremely great but you know he's you know what do you expect how could anybody answer those questions nobody in the history of humanity has
1:10:251 hour, 10 minutes, 25 secondsbeen able to ask answer them okay so I thought first I'll see what the Quran has to say about the
1:10:321 hour, 10 minutes, 32 secondsBelievers what does it require of them then what it has to say about God and see if there's some essential link are you following me you're giving me the
1:10:401 hour, 10 minutes, 40 secondsnote get off the stage okay I'll do my best it's a deep
1:10:481 hour, 10 minutes, 48 secondssubject we're almost done bear with me a few more minutes I'm sorry really
1:10:541 hour, 10 minutes, 54 seconds[Music]
1:10:581 hour, 10 minutes, 58 secondsI know sash when he gives these sort of speeches he always says okay I'm finishing up now and then 10 minutes leader says you thought I was telling you
1:11:061 hour, 11 minutes, 6 secondsto I won't say that but just give me a few more minutes bear with me okay quickly what does the Quran ask
1:11:151 hour, 11 minutes, 15 secondsof the Believers from the quran's many exhortations and his descriptions of Acts and types of individuals loved by
1:11:221 hour, 11 minutes, 22 secondsGod is Not difficult to compose a partial list of things that the Quran wants us to do which it calls Good
1:11:311 hour, 11 minutes, 31 secondsDeeds time and time again to believe in God to have faith in God to have a relationship with God and to do
1:11:391 hour, 11 minutes, 39 secondsgood so what does it describe as these Good Deeds well as I read through the
1:11:441 hour, 11 minutes, 44 secondsQuran it says that can I take this away remember intellect choice suffing
1:11:541 hour, 11 minutes, 54 secondsit says we should show compassion show compassion we should be
1:12:031 hour, 12 minutes, 3 secondsmerciful I have the references here but just excuse me I'm not going to list them all running out of time we should
1:12:091 hour, 12 minutes, 9 secondsbe forgiving forgive others we should be just we should protect the
1:12:181 hour, 12 minutes, 18 secondsweak and defend the oppressed defend the oppressed we should
1:12:251 hour, 12 minutes, 25 secondsbe seek knowledge and wisdom knowledge wisdom bear with me
1:12:321 hour, 12 minutes, 32 secondsladies and gentlemen we should be generous
1:12:401 hour, 12 minutes, 40 secondstruthful and we should love oh be peaceful and we should love our fellow
1:12:471 hour, 12 minutes, 47 secondsman love others I'll just give you one verse because I know we're running out of time Madam speak
1:12:541 hour, 12 minutes, 54 secondstruly those who believe and do good will the most merciful endow with love and to this end we have made this scripture
1:13:011 hour, 13 minutes, 1 secondeasy to understand in your own tongue so that you might convey a glad Tiding to the god conscious and warn those given
1:13:081 hour, 13 minutes, 8 secondsto contention to this end we have made this easy to understand so that we'll learn
1:13:171 hour, 13 minutes, 17 secondsto love others okay that's all I'll say about that I would like to say a lot more but
1:13:241 hour, 13 minutes, 24 secondsI don't have time now what does the Quran tell us about God you have to realize I'm just about through with the Quran here my first time reading it and
1:13:321 hour, 13 minutes, 32 secondsnow I was really caught I searched my head what does the Quran tell us about God tells us nothing could be compared to
1:13:391 hour, 13 minutes, 39 secondshim that is out anything he's outside anything that we may compare to that our definitions do not Encompass
1:13:481 hour, 13 minutes, 48 secondshim that a reason cannot comprehend it that he is transcended and we are finite that he is Immortal he he
1:13:571 hour, 13 minutes, 57 secondsis he transcends time and space and we are bound by it that he is Immortal we are mortal he is UNC corporeal we are
1:14:051 hour, 14 minutes, 5 secondscorporeal that we have no way of comparing ourselves to him nothing could be compared to him I thought oh my God
1:14:141 hour, 14 minutes, 14 secondsI'm so close and yet so far because I'll never understand the essential link between us and God and
1:14:231 hour, 14 minutes, 23 secondswhy these three things fit into place because the Quran tells us that we will could never really quite understand
1:14:331 hour, 14 minutes, 33 secondsGod or at least that's the way I thought and so I put down the Quran when I had finished it and much to my dismay I was
1:14:421 hour, 14 minutes, 42 secondshonestly disappointed because I thought I'm just the author made a brilliant brilliant brilliant brilliant try but he
1:14:521 hour, 14 minutes, 52 secondsnever quite made it and so I was sitting in front of about 3 4 weeks later I was sitting in
1:15:001 hour, 15 minutesDiamond Heights in my apartment watching a football game I think it was and you know sometimes just things just slip into your minds when you least expect
1:15:081 hour, 15 minutes, 8 secondsthem and I'm sitting there watching it and all of a sudden into my mind came a thought and I said wait a minute the
1:15:141 hour, 15 minutes, 14 secondsQuran does tell us so much about God tells us again and again and again
1:15:211 hour, 15 minutes, 21 secondsbut somehow I just missed it just skimmed over it every single time because if you turn to almost any page
1:15:301 hour, 15 minutes, 30 secondsif you turn to the beginning of any Surah you could see time and time again essential information about God that I just thought was sort of a literary
1:15:381 hour, 15 minutes, 38 secondsdevice something to make it just sound more beautiful because if you turn to beginning of any Surah you'll see the
1:15:461 hour, 15 minutes, 46 secondswords in the name of God the most merciful the most compassionate if you read almost any Passage long passage
1:15:531 hour, 15 minutes, 53 secondswhen you come to end end of it it's punctuated by dual attributive statements like God is the merciful the compassionate God is the forgiving the
1:16:021 hour, 16 minutes, 2 secondsgentle God is the kind The Protector God is the generous the truthful God is and so forth and so on there are tens of
1:16:101 hour, 16 minutes, 10 secondsthousands of such references in the statements in the Quran what the Quran defines as God's most beautiful names his attributes of
1:16:191 hour, 16 minutes, 19 secondsperfection repeated again and again and again and almost every page and as I sat there sitting by the television I
1:16:271 hour, 16 minutes, 27 secondsstarted to jot them down in my you know on my little piece of notebook there same notebook I used to jot these down
1:16:341 hour, 16 minutes, 34 secondsbefore and I began to list from my own mind the attributes of perfection as I remembered them and they were we should
1:16:411 hour, 16 minutes, 41 secondsbe God is the compassion God is the
1:16:481 hour, 16 minutes, 48 secondsmerciful god is the forgiving God is the just the
1:16:551 hour, 16 minutes, 55 secondsprotector the defender of the oppressed and the weak the knowing the
1:17:031 hour, 17 minutes, 3 secondswise the generous the kind the truthful the loving the
1:17:101 hour, 17 minutes, 10 secondspeaceful the source of all peace the truth and so forth and so
1:17:161 hour, 17 minutes, 16 secondson every item I had listed in my list for the qualities that we human beings are supposed to develop the Quran was
1:17:251 hour, 17 minutes, 25 secondstelling me had its Infinite Source and perfection in Allah in God and then all of a sudden all the
1:17:341 hour, 17 minutes, 34 secondspieces fell together then I suddenly saw it as I see most of you probably see as
1:17:411 hour, 17 minutes, 41 secondswell that now I mean suddenly it all began to make sense to me in what way do I say that
1:17:491 hour, 17 minutes, 49 secondswell it was now obvious why we had to develop these qualities was no it was now obvious how these things on the
1:17:571 hour, 17 minutes, 57 secondsfloor here fell into place and I'll just say it clearly we're here to develop a relationship with God
1:18:041 hour, 18 minutes, 4 secondsto become closer to God but how can you become closer to God when he's Transcendent and you're finite when he's Immortal and you're Immortal um when
1:18:121 hour, 18 minutes, 12 secondsyou're vice versa when he's Immortal and you're mortal when he's Unbound fettered by time and space and you are and so
1:18:201 hour, 18 minutes, 20 secondsforth and so on how can you become close to that one if I want to become close to you I need to have something to share
1:18:291 hour, 18 minutes, 29 secondswith you something that we have in common so for example if I want to get come close to this young man here physically I'll approach him because we
1:18:361 hour, 18 minutes, 36 secondsboth have bodies and I can position my body closer to him physical presence bodily presence is something we both share if I want to become closer to that
1:18:461 hour, 18 minutes, 46 secondsgentleman back there if I want to become closer to him intellectually I'll reason with him so we will have a convergence of mind
1:18:531 hour, 18 minutes, 53 secondsbecause we both possess reason if I want to become closer to one of the my sisters on this side emotionally I'll try to appeal to their sentiments
1:19:011 hour, 19 minutes, 1 secondbecause we both share feelings and similar types of experiences that generate those feelings but how does one
1:19:081 hour, 19 minutes, 8 secondsbecome closer to God what do we share with him we share with him what exactly what he gave us because the Quran tells
1:19:161 hour, 19 minutes, 16 secondsus that when we were came into this life he breathes into our spirit something of his
1:19:241 hour, 19 minutes, 24 secondsspirit and that we come into this world with the seed of these very qualities within us and we could either kill them
1:19:321 hour, 19 minutes, 32 secondsstunt them as the Quran says or cause them to grow and when we grow in these we grow in our ability not just to experience
1:19:411 hour, 19 minutes, 41 secondstremend tremendous Beauty in life through all this but we grow in our ability to receive and experience the infinite Beauty the infinite peace the
1:19:501 hour, 19 minutes, 50 secondsinfinite truth the infinite compassion the infinite Mercy the internet Etc all the way down list down the list that
1:19:571 hour, 19 minutes, 57 secondsonly comes from the infinite P perfect source of all these the more we grow in Mercy the more we grow in our ability to
1:20:041 hour, 20 minutes, 4 secondsreceive and experience in this life and in the next to an infinitely greater degree the mercy of God the more we grow
1:20:121 hour, 20 minutes, 12 secondsin compassion the more we grow in our ability to receive and experience God's compassion in this life through prayer and through ritual and through
1:20:201 hour, 20 minutes, 20 secondscontemplation and through other experience of others and and of course infinitely more in the next life The Compassion of God the more
1:20:271 hour, 20 minutes, 27 secondswe grow in our truthfulness the more we grow in our ability to experience God the truth because all truth comes from
1:20:341 hour, 20 minutes, 34 secondsGod the more we grow in these things the more we grow in our ability to receive and experience God's attributes of perfection the more we grow in our
1:20:421 hour, 20 minutes, 42 secondsability to receive and experience his being and that sort of nearness we are growing to
1:20:491 hour, 20 minutes, 49 secondshim is tied to our essential nature and to his it's more than just physical Ness it's more than just a convergence of
1:20:581 hour, 20 minutes, 58 secondsideas it's more than just a convergence of feelings it's a convergence of essential beings it's the closest type of nearness
1:21:061 hour, 21 minutes, 6 secondsto can feel to can experience I'll just give you a quick analogy because this helped my
1:21:151 hour, 21 minutes, 15 secondschildren let's pretend I have a cat uh a goldfish a dog and three children three daughters
1:21:231 hour, 21 minutes, 23 secondssay and I do have three daughters no matter how much of my love compassion forgiveness caring I pour upon that
1:21:331 hour, 21 minutes, 33 secondsgoldfish It could only experience it to a tiny degree it might not even really be aware of
1:21:401 hour, 21 minutes, 40 secondsit CU it's a very primitive creature but my dog on the other hand when I show it all my kindness all my love all my
1:21:491 hour, 21 minutes, 49 secondscompassion all of what is essentially me it could exper experience it to a much higher degree than my goldfish and through its interaction
1:21:571 hour, 21 minutes, 57 secondswith me through its own trying to give its own self to me we could experience a quite wonderful
1:22:041 hour, 22 minutes, 4 secondsrelationship but my children as especially as they grow older and go through their own experience and their own development
1:22:111 hour, 22 minutes, 11 secondscould receive and experience all the love and the compassion and the forgiveness and the caring and the generosity and the protection everything
1:22:191 hour, 22 minutes, 19 secondsI have to offer they could experience my being to much higher degree than my dog ever
1:22:251 hour, 22 minutes, 25 secondscan and we could have a relationship of beauty that I could never have with my
1:22:321 hour, 22 minutes, 32 secondsdog as much as I love animals having had three daughters I know that the relationship with that you have with three beautiful daughters could never
1:22:401 hour, 22 minutes, 40 secondseven come close the no other relationship could approximate that of course my relationship with my wife is also extremely beautiful and she might
1:22:491 hour, 22 minutes, 49 secondshear this and she's a wonderful woman really I mean she's the source of so much Beauty but okay Madam chairman I am
1:22:581 hour, 22 minutes, 58 secondsready so that seems to bring it all together so now I thought wait a
1:23:061 hour, 23 minutes, 6 secondsminute that doesn't explain this why the intellect why the choice why the
1:23:141 hour, 23 minutes, 14 secondssuffering I said you almost had me this Quran you almost duped me you almost
1:23:221 hour, 23 minutes, 22 secondsricked me seduced me into accepting this philosophy but wait a minute what about
1:23:301 hour, 23 minutes, 30 secondsintellect Choice suffering why do we have to experience these why couldn't you just programmed us to be merciful compassionate forgiving Etc why do we
1:23:391 hour, 23 minutes, 39 secondshave to go through all this and then of course the answer came to me as quickly as I thought of it so we are creatures and we grow and we
1:23:481 hour, 23 minutes, 48 secondsbecome and yes and you could make us anything you want but you can't contain any of those
1:23:551 hour, 23 minutes, 55 secondsattributes I listed without these three things in mathematics we try you know three premises that go into you know
1:24:041 hour, 24 minutes, 4 secondsproving a theorem we try to see if we could take one of them away and if it's essential and all three of these are definitely essential for
1:24:121 hour, 24 minutes, 12 secondsexample you could program a computer never to make an incorrect statement but it doesn't become a truthful computer
1:24:201 hour, 24 minutes, 20 secondsnever heard anybody say to me Jeff this Mac to us is the true most truthful computer I ever saw if it's programmed it's not truth
1:24:301 hour, 24 minutes, 30 secondsyou could program a CAT scan to help the sick but it doesn't become compassionate never heard a doctor say Jeff if you want to see a compassionate CAT scan you
1:24:381 hour, 24 minutes, 38 secondscome right over here because all those things compassion forgiveness
1:24:441 hour, 24 minutes, 44 secondstruth caring love all are born out of choice suffering and
1:24:531 hour, 24 minutes, 53 secondsreason in order to do a compassionate deed when we consider reaching out to someone in compassion that person first of all that's inconceivable without the
1:25:021 hour, 25 minutes, 2 secondspresence of suffering an environment where there's suffering and when we decide to help them or not we we reason in our minds
1:25:111 hour, 25 minutes, 11 secondswhat is this going to require of me it's going to require some suffering on my part some my giving of
1:25:181 hour, 25 minutes, 18 secondsmyself and without that mental process it doesn't become a compassionate
1:25:251 hour, 25 minutes, 25 secondsdeed and if it isn't by choice it's not a compassionate deed it's that choice that makes it compassionate same thing with
1:25:341 hour, 25 minutes, 34 secondstruth truth is a choice between telling the truth or not telling the truth often times we tell that when
1:25:411 hour, 25 minutes, 41 secondswe're at risk to our own personal loss the more suffering that might come out of that choice the greater is the truth behind it the greater an act of
1:25:501 hour, 25 minutes, 50 secondstruthfulness and all the time we have to weigh the consequences of that choice if I tell the truth here my teacher's going to give me an F if I don't tell the
1:25:581 hour, 25 minutes, 58 secondstruth I might get an A you we weigh it in our mind last example the famous wedding Bob
1:26:061 hour, 26 minutes, 6 secondsdo you take this woman to be your wife in sickness and in health for richer or for poorer until
1:26:151 hour, 26 minutes, 15 secondsdeath do you part what are they asking us do you knowingly make this choice
1:26:221 hour, 26 minutes, 22 secondsunderstanding full well what's at stake here that it might involve richness but poverty health or sickness that
1:26:311 hour, 26 minutes, 31 secondssuffering is going to be involved until death once a young lady told me you know
1:26:391 hour, 26 minutes, 39 secondsyou never really loved me cuz when the growing got tough when things got hard when we hit rock bottom when my life
1:26:461 hour, 26 minutes, 46 secondsfell apart you just got up and left and she was right and she stood full well that that's what love is all
1:26:541 hour, 26 minutes, 54 secondsabout it is through giving and suffering together and hanging in there with each other and not bailing out and persevering through suffering making
1:27:031 hour, 27 minutes, 3 secondsthat choice and knowing what you're doing all those three things are essential so it's very easy to see why
1:27:111 hour, 27 minutes, 11 secondsthe Quran stresses these for because for in order for us to grow in these I've dropped it we have to have
1:27:211 hour, 27 minutes, 21 secondsthese and that's why it's very easy to see ladies and gentlemen why the Quran 30 seconds Madam Sherman why the Quran
1:27:291 hour, 27 minutes, 29 secondstalks about Sin as self-destruction the Quran says when we sin we commit the Arabic word
1:27:361 hour, 27 minutes, 36 secondsis or Z however dialect you have th against ourselves we oppress we destroy
1:27:451 hour, 27 minutes, 45 secondsourselves because when we don't grow in these when we grow in the very opposite of these we are literally destroyed destroying
1:27:541 hour, 27 minutes, 54 secondsourselves when we grow into things that are antithetical to these we are destroying our natures and we not allow ourselves to receive and experience the
1:28:021 hour, 28 minutes, 2 secondsbeauty that could be in store for us this life and the next it's like coming into this world
1:28:101 hour, 28 minutes, 10 secondsand developing in the womb none of the physical things you need to experience comfort and joy and peace and happiness
1:28:171 hour, 28 minutes, 17 secondson a physical level in this life it's as if you're coming into this life and you've destroyed yourself physically somehow in the womb and you came into it
1:28:251 hour, 28 minutes, 25 secondsand you had nothing to protect you from the cold from the heat from the harshness of the elements from germs from disease nothing to protect you
1:28:331 hour, 28 minutes, 33 secondsnothing to satisfy give you the ability to satisfy your thirst or your hunger nothing to for you to Fe experience any
1:28:411 hour, 28 minutes, 41 secondsphysical Comfort this is all that matters when we go into the next life if we don't develop these through our relationship
1:28:501 hour, 28 minutes, 50 secondswith God our very purpose of our being then we will experience terrible suffering in this life worse than if we came into this
1:28:581 hour, 28 minutes, 58 secondslife in a physical state that didn't Avail us of any of the comfort of this life and so it'll be worse than fire
1:29:061 hour, 29 minutes, 6 secondsit'll be worse than endless fire it'll be worse than the hell the worst hell we could possibly imagine so the Quran
1:29:131 hour, 29 minutes, 13 secondstells us you know that yes you know when it talks about heaven and hell it's used very powerful symbolic language but what essentially is telling us is Imagine The
1:29:221 hour, 29 minutes, 22 secondsgreatest joy and wonderful and peace and serenity you could ever experience and that's what's open to you on the one end
1:29:301 hour, 29 minutes, 30 secondsbut on the other end imagine the most terrible suffering that you could possibly bring on yourself and you could also do that to yourself as well it'll
1:29:381 hour, 29 minutes, 38 secondsbe worse than anything you could have ever imagined so and it's the Quran tells us that God says on the day of judgment I
1:29:451 hour, 29 minutes, 45 secondsdid not harm you in the least you destroyed yourselves and it could say that in
1:29:531 hour, 29 minutes, 53 secondstotal objective truth and that's why the Quran well I think I'll leave it at that because
1:30:001 hour, 30 minutesMadam speaker is about to shoot me I still have other things to talk about but I want to find out how that basketball game is going so uh thank you
1:30:081 hour, 30 minutes, 8 secondsso for so much for listening to me for so long and May the peace and mercy of Allah be upon you all I didn't mean to try to scare anybody at the end that
1:30:161 hour, 30 minutes, 16 secondswasn't my goal I was just trying to make a point May the peace and mercy of God be upon you all thank thank you so much salamu
1:30:381 hour, 30 minutes, 38 seconds[Applause]
1:30:471 hour, 30 minutes, 47 secondsalikum all right we'd like to thank Dr Lang for that very heart felt very
1:30:561 hour, 30 minutes, 56 secondslong presentation I have a few things to say before you all leave so just be patient with me for a
1:31:031 hour, 31 minutes, 3 secondssecond
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Corrected transcript. 1,500 단어 한국어 요약
